GT Snap Shots
by LockDown
Summary: Looking at them you would never guess they were the Normandy's second couple but once you take a closer look it is plain to see. Various one shots about two people that shouldn't be together but are. One happy family! With Epilogue!
1. Chapter 1

GT Snap Shots

Bascially I'm just trying to populate the Garrus/Tali ship as it is very lonely right now.

This wasn't like him. He was normally so calm, so collected. Years of working in C-Sec had taught Agent Garrus Vakarian how to reign in his temper and keep a cool head about him. Fierce turian pride and duty kept him in line even as he privately railed against the bureaucracy of C-Sec. However, none of those traits were on display as Garrus snarled viciously at the small computer screen in front of him.

The Normandy was travelling by some comm buoys and Shepard had authorized a two hour "mail" window for everyone on the ship. As was his custom Garrus contacted his family on Palaven. He would turn off his universal translator and speak in his native dialect which Ashley Williams had once told him sounded like birds and lizards noises to her. The size of the cargo bay and his spot in it gave Garrus some privacy and once the rest of the crew found out he was making calls home, they let him have his private time.

And it was this call home that was the cause of his anger right now. His father and himself had never been on good terms but ever since Garrus had embarked on Shepard's quest they had grown further and further apart. A major point of contention had been the fact that Garrus was hanging out with a Spectre, and a human one at that. That argument would spill over to involve his growing familiarity with the other species onboard the Normandy especially those ones of ill repute; Krogans and Quarians.

Garrus could handle his father's xenophobic tendencies when it came to the Krogan. As a species they had a bad reputation overall but he had come to respect Wrex as a warrior and maybe even as a friend. They were often paired on the same team and were very effective working together. What had caused him to snap was his father's comments about the Quarians, or rather one Quarian in particular.

"I don't see her,"

"Who father?" Garrus had asked.

"She normally hovers in the hallway over your shoulder when you make your calls." The elder Vakarian said.

"Who father?" Garrus asked again.

"That mechanical whore of yours."

That was when Garrus snarled. What he didn't realize was just how menacingly and loudly he had done so. Everyone on deck stopped what they were doing to look at the direction where the sound had come from. They might have turned their translators off out of respect but some things don't need translation.

*****

Tali was slowly putting away her tools in her locker when she heard a harsh sound come from by the Mako. Though she wouldn't admit it to anyone, she often found excuses to be in the cargo bay when Garrus called home. It was so she could make secret recording of him speaking in chirps, whistles and hisses that sounded like music to her ears. At night Tali would listen to these recordings to help her go to sleep.

Her favorite one is a short recording she has of Garrus _cooing_. He had only done it once and for a short time when a young sounding female voice had talked with him for a little while. It had made Tali feel uneasy to hear Garrus make that sound. Eventually her curiosity, fueled by Wrex's faulted facial expression at the time and Ashley's prodding, grew enough to ask Garrus why he had cooed.

The harden C-Sec veteran's mandibles twitched the fashion that Tali knew to be either irritation or embarrassment. Despite all the time she secretly spent trying to discern his face; turian's faces just weren't as expressive as her own humanoid face.

"It is sometime we do when we're happy or content." Garrus had explained neutrally. He truly hadn't meant for his squadmates to hear him doing that any more then he wanted to hear the Krogan purr, which the battlemaster was wont to do after particularly brutal or gory battles.

"Oh." Was all Tali had said. The small nugget of information was enough to feed her young infatuated imagination. On the nights that her recordings reached that short section where Garrus gruff voice dropped into that soft coo, she would dream that it was her that had been the one that had been the one to draw the happy noise out of him.

Then she would waken, always fascinated and horrified that she was thinking of Garrus in such a way when he wasn't even Quarian, and insanely jealous of the female that had been able to make Garrus genuinely happy for a brief moment.

At chow weeks later Tali would summon up the courage to ask Garrus who had been the one to make him so happy.

"Why does it matter?" Garrus had inquired. He was wary of how he acted around Tali. Not that he didn't trust the Quarian. In fact there wasn't anything he could not trust her with. What kept him hesitant was her age and her Pilgrimage. He was over a decade her senior and what was the use of being hopelessly in love with someone that wasn't your species and would leave you once her Pilgrimage was over. He wasn't totally oblivious to Tali's actions towards him and scuttlebutt said there was a hefty betting pool on whether or not Tali and himself would become an official couple like Liara and Shepard had.

"It matters to me." Tali retorted.

"It was my younger step sister. She's about your age. I was happy to get to talk to her directly. Father tends to monopolize my time when I call home." Garrus admitted.

"Oh." Was all Tali could say. She didn't have any siblings of her own but she would guess that speaking to one's sibling would be a rather happy occasion. Ashley was prone to squeals of joy whenever she got a vidmail from one of her sisters.

****

Instantly everyone's translators were on. Whatever was pissing Garrus off must have been serious to elicit such a response from him.

"SHE. IS. NOT. A. WHORE." Garrus ground out slowly.

"But still very much yours. I'm glad your mother is dead"

"Don't speak of mother that way." Garrus cut his father off but the older turian just went on as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"so she couldn't see how shameful and dishonorable you've become."

Garrus blanched. In turian culture there was almost nothing more insulting or hurtful then being told you were dishonorable as a person or as a part of a group. Garrus was so shocked that he didn't have a reply for his father at first. Then his anger came back. The animosity between father and son that had been buried deep down and smoldered over the years. Now this was the last straw and the smoldering fire became a roaring inferno.

"You have no right. You have always been more concerned with the law then actual justice. You have always been selfish drowning your grief for mother by getting remarried so quickly. You always drove me to bring more honor to our family name and now that I am you just find more things to bitch about. And you call me the dishonorable one! " Garrus was yelling at the small screen that had the image of his father on it. His yelling had attracted Liara and Jane Shepard from the upper deck to come below and the entire cargo hold was watching him but he was unaware.

"If I'm so dishonorable then you should just disown me."

"Don't tempt me son."

"You might have sired me but I'm hardly _your_ son."

"You're right. No son of mine would be this stupid or disgraceful. Do not call again."

"You can count on it." With that Garrus tore off his upper plating of his armor. He had put his family emblem on the front of it a few months ago when this insane journey had started. When he had done it he had been proud of the symbol. Now he was disgusted with the same symbol and threw the piece of armor across the cargo bay. It struck the far back wall with a loud bang and then rattled on the floor.

Still angry Garrus knocked over his work stand sending the small computer and several data pads scattering onto the floor before he walked around the Mako and sat down against one of the wheels on the other side, away from the rest of the bay.

****

Tali looked at her gathered comrades as they all shared looks with each other. Each was silently asking the other who should be the one to speak with Garrus. Ash and Liara were quickly ruled out. Shepard bowed out with a shake of her red head. Wrex merely glanced at Tali and tossed his large head towards the Mako telling the small Quarian that she should be the one to go.

Tali found Garrus with his head back, eyes closed, seated at the base of one of the large wheels of the Mako. It was odd to be able to see him without his armor on. He wore a blue and black shirt and showed off his large upper frame.

"Garrus?" Tali asked softly unsure if he was aware of her presence.

Garrus opened one eye to look at Tali and grab her hand, hauling her into his lap where he promptly wrapped his long arms around her much smaller frame. Tali thanked her ancestors she had a helmet on because she was sure she was several shades of purple with embarrassment. Still this wasn't about her, this was about him and after a few minutes of regaining her composure Tali tried again.

"Garrus."

"Shh. Just know this." Garrus brought on hand up to cradle Tali's head against his chest so she could hear and feel the vibrations of him cooing.

"About time the bastard got his act together." Wrex said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Liara asked for the three females who were now staring questioningly at the Krogan.

"I bet he would pick her over his family back home. I was right. He's just been disowned and yet he's cooing away like a teenage boy in love over there." Wrex said with a massive grin. "Joker owes me a lot of credits.

****

A/N: For the record, I wrote this while on a 24 hours duty and uploaded it afterwards when I should have been sleeping. If, I'm honest with myself I really think this piece sucks and I should have just left my writing career where it was. Ending with Memoirs because I felt that was my swan song and a kick ass one at that. However, I'm actually getting ideas for once after my year hiatus so I guess I can't sham any longer. I'll just keep adding to this as it comes. Mostly one shots that might make a loose arc.

To anyone who thinks that Garrus goes too quickly from being pissed off to happy, I nearly ask you to find and speak to someone in our armed forces. I see and often experience these rapid shifts daily. Spending all day trying to be a badass on the outside doesn't mean we don't have a soft side to us.

And remember; NO SLACK and HOOAH!


	2. Night Time Visitor

**Night time visitor**

_Takes place about a month after the last chapter._

Tali couldn't believe she was doing this. She had never done anything like this before and part of her wondered just how he would react. Sure if he woke right now she would have no explanation as to why she was standing him watching him sleep.

When he was awake, his face was always set in a stern thoughtful expression that rarely change. In sleep his face was relaxed in a peaceful expression with his mandibles fluttering now and again. Seeing him like this fanned the warm feeling in her heart that she had whenever she thought of him.

Just where did it all begin? Back on the Flotilla Tali never thought that any of the boys were cute. Boys just never held any interest to her. Machinery was far more entertaining to tinker with and on the dreadnought that was her home, there was always something she could tinker with. Sometimes it was on her own, but most of the time one of the many engineers would come by and help her/baby sit her.

At first Tali didn't think anything of it. After all, the dreadnaught Rayya was the flagship of the Flotilla, home of the Admiral Board, and one of the older ships in the Fleet. It was well staffed which meant it was always being maintained well. As time wore on Tali soon realized that her mechanical tutorship was being given to her partly because of her father's position. Tali never liked the fact that she always had someone always watching her on behalf of her dad.

Maybe that was why she had started to like him. He was very handy with technology. If he was a Quarian that would have made him a more qualified suitor. Contrary to popular belief, not all Quarians were as handy with machinery as Tali was. If anything, Tali was exceptionally talented.

Not to say that Garrus wasn't good as well. Perhaps more importantly was the fact that he recognized her skills and acknowledged them. He never came to her offering to help with anything. Strange as that might sound Tali liked that fact that he strictly stuck to maintaining the Mako and left the drive core to her. Not that she would tell Shepard or Adams but the drive core was the first thing she had gotten to work on alone.

Garrus also had a nice side to him that he rarely showed. He had been the first one to show her the ship which just stunned everyone on the ship regardless of species. After all, most everyone only had rumors and stereo types to base things off of and trust Garrus to break the mold as fast as he could. The seasoned, hardened, Turian ex-cop had given her a tour of the Normandy which he had been on once before she came on board. She was the untrustworthy, thieving, AI making, mechanical looking, biosuit wearing Quarian.

Garrus had been very polite during the tour, pointing out where Turian influences in various components of the Normandy. He pointed out where she could find the Turian menus from the food replicators. He had shown her the engine room and made the offhand comment that maybe she could work in here during the trip. It turned out to be quite a challenge but Tali was up to it and impressed all with her engineering skills.

He was the first one to really talk to her. Wrex isn't that talkative now or back then. Ash used to spend all her time cleaning weapons and keeping an eye on Wrex and Garrus. Now she just cleans weapons. Liara used to hide in her room out of shyness. Now she's either busy looking over all the relics the crew had picked up exploring shape or sneaking in and out of Shepard's room. Something that the crew as a whole purposely ignored. Shepard was a Spectre and while she did talk to Tali the conversations where never very long. Any spare moment Shepard had was spent with Liara and Tali understood. Garrus had come to her asking for technical help.

Later Tali would find out that Garrus had broken the component on purpose just to have something to talk to her about, but Tali found she could forgive him. Breaking something like that was a cardinal sin on the Flotilla. Sabotage was just a step below stealing a ship.

Still, that initial conversation led to another and another and soon their conversations weren't even about circuits and wires. Tali had taken up the habit of taking her breaks sitting on top of one of the Mako's wheels chatting with Garrus. She never helped him work. The Mako was his responsibility just like the drive core was hers.

She had been the one to invite Garrus to share a meal with her. Years of living in a sterile ship environment had left the Quarian immune system someone weakened but Tali had been given several booster shots and micro implants to ward off disease just like everyone who took the Pilgrimage. Still she took her meals in the privacy of the Medbay which Doctor Chakwas vacated to eat her own meals in the mess.

Garrus's face wasn't very easy to read but when Tali took off her helmet she couldn't read his face at all. At the very least he didn't run away screaming. Maybe he had caught enough of a glimpse of her face behind her visor.

Her face was rounded and smooth. Her jawline long and her chin was small. Her cheeks were high and still held a hint of baby fat. Her eyes were very slanted, large, and solid black with a white iris. Her lips were thin and a light blue. She had a pronounced nose in the center of her face. Her ears were rather small slits on the side of her head though they were hidden by her long shoulder length white hair. In fact, not withstanding her lack of an ear shell, Tali could easily pass as a Human as far as facial features went. Except for the fact that her skin was a light purple.

The meals became a weekly norm for the pair just another one of their little things. The other big thing was the fact they came up with their own language of gestures. One meal time Tali had commented how she had a hard time reading Garrus's stoic expressions but she thought she was getting the hang of it.

"At least you can see my face often enough to learn them. Except for this weekly half hour, I never get to see your face." Garrus pointed out.

Realizing the validity of Garrus's comment, Tali suggested that they come up with their own hand signs and gestures for when Tali had to have her helmet on. At first it was strictly business and just simple things like drawing a "U" across her visor to show that she was smiling. A paw over her mouth piece was her being embarrassed. A tilt to the side was curiosity.

Other things didn't have official translations. Like whenever Tali would inexplicably find herself touching his arm for no real reason. Or perhaps her favorite one that he had started just a couple of weeks ago, about the same time Garrus had had his huge falling out with his father. Before they would turn in for the night Garrus would press his forehead against hers for a few moments.

At first it was quick and Tali thought they had accidently bumped heads. It didn't take long for the "head bump" to become a long drawn out moment of Garrus leaning over her small frame and gazing into her eyes. Tali still didn't know what to make of the gesture but she knew her day wasn't over until she got her good night from Garrus.

And all that led to this. Garrus sleeping peacefully on the medical bed, recovering from a case of geth ambush compliments of a fake distress call. Garrus had been lucky enough to be sitting on the side of the Mako that had gotten bombarded in the initial volley that had torn through shields and armor alike. When Garrus got back on his feet he would spend a lot of time on the Mako.

However right now he was peacefully resting and Tali could admire his features. His nose was flat and small, dead center of his face. His sharp blue eyes were small and beady but fit his look perfectly. His jaw was very strong and his chin pronounced. Behind his hard lips were teeth that Tali knew to be razor sharp. She'd have to be careful of those if things ever advanced to where she hoped they could go to. Garrus didn't have hair. He had light gray feathers instead that Tali ran her fingers through. They were just as soft as they looked and Tali reveled in the sensation.

Despite the differences in their anatomy it didn't stop the fact that she had been terrified when Wrex had ran out of the heavily damaged Mako to rush a wounded Garrus up to the sick bay. After Doctor Chakwas had worked her magic and stabilized the Turian Tali went in to keep vigil over the prone form of Garrus.

Now it was night time and Tali had taken off her helmet and was leaned over his face. She could feel his warm breath against her cheek. Slowly, tentatively she brought her face closer to his and pressed her soft lips against his unyielding one. It was a gentle one sided kiss.

Tali held the kiss until the need for air forced her to pull back and take a breath but she didn't get very far. Her progress was stopped by a gentle but firm talon on the back of her head.

"Do you always steal kisses from sleeping people in the night?" Garrus asked mildly amused at the beautiful blue blush that colored Tali's cheek.

"No." Tali said sternly before she softened her expression once more. "I just wanted my good night kiss." Tali leaned back down and pressed her forehead against his for a moment before touching her lips to his. This kiss was not one sided.

A/N: Okay I to apologize for using the "oh my god he's wounded routine" as a plot element for an advance in their relationship. I tried to make it as small a part as possible. Really, I needed a reason to have Tali alone in a room with a sleeping Garrus and well there aren't a lot of options. The only one with a bed (well two put together if you look) is Shepard and having Garrus in a sleeper pod just doesn't work. Nor does having him at his place on the Citadel though I did toy with the idea. I would have made Tali internal insights come out in a girls outing with Ashley. However, I have other plans for when they make it to the Citadel. So having him the medbay was the only option left to me. Plus I got to show my theory on how Tali looks and how she eats. And that taking off her helmet won't instantly kill her… Also now I can run with the plot bunny of a conversation between Wrex and Garrus as they casually discuss things whilst blasting Geth to pieces.

And I feel as though I should confess the source of my inspiration. Hyperbali put up a 100 sentence tribute to FemShep and Garrus. One night on CQ I took the prompts and rewrote most of them. I've been merging several prompts together to get the short snippets you see here.

Hooah you, hooah.


	3. Chapter 3

Just wrong

Garrus knew that neither he nor Wrex were prime candidates for expressive person of the year but the look on Wrex's face was unmistakably in shock. For half a millisecond. The low ping of a Geth round being deflected off of Wrex's shields brought both warriors focuses back to the annoyance at hand.

While tramping around the galaxy as Shepard was wont to do, Wrex and Garrus often made up her ground team. Wrex was a biotic tank who dispatched death with his trusty shotgun. Provided anything go close enough to him. Garrus and his sniper rifle tended to keep close encounters of the Geth kind rare unless they were inside or had numbers.

Seeing how well these two worked together despite their initial distrust and dislike of each other. However the bond of combat soon forged them into teammates and from there, before they knew it they were friends. It was inevitable really even for Wrex who kept almost everyone out much like Garrus. Respect for the other was a fighter and willingness to get the job done no matter the cost were just two things that helped them bond. Mutually saving the other one's ass helped out a bit too.

On the ship the two really didn't talk. Wrex liked his quiet time and Garrus kept busy with the Mako and of late Tali. When to two did talk over the comms during a mission Joker and Shepard stayed out of it. Shepard because this chatter didn't affect their effectiveness in the field. Joker because he didn't want to be skewered by his own snapped off legs compliments of a Krogan battlemaster.

"She kissed you." Wrex said unbelieving. "As in her lips, her actual lips touched yours."

"That's what I said." Garrus said exasperated as he shot a Geth grunt in the eye piece tearing the head off. "She thought I was out cold."

"So she wouldn't have kissed you otherwise then."

"She kissed me again after she knew I was awake." Garrus said defencively.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Wrex asked trying to get to the point of the matter, He charged forward to his next point of cover as Garrus provided suppressing fire by switching to his assault rifle briefly.

"You've been alive a while. Do you know anything about Quarian physiology or biology?"

Wrex almost blanched. Garrus seriously couldn't be asking what he was thinking the Turian was asking him.

"Why?"

"I really don't want to hurt her and the Alliance data base that I have access to," Garrus said dropping a hint to Shepard, "doesn't have much on the Quarians. I know she can eat the food I eat and that our biochemistry is basically the same. And our hands fit together."

"And?"

"I was wondering if anything else…fit." Garrus mumbled the last bit but Wrex caught it. This time the aged Krogan really did blanch. 1400 years of knowledge and experience didn't make the sex talk any less awkward.

"Garrus." Wrex started out evenly in a tone that said he would indulge the younger one in conversation but this conversation would never leave this rock.

"Yes?"

"You've been with someone before right?"

Garrus's left mandible twitched in irritation. "I'm not some clueless young whelp. I just don't know about Quarians." Garrus shot back.

"Like I do?"

"You're ancient. I figured there might be some useful information in that thick head of yours."

"As far as I know they are humanoid and everything will 'fit.' Why did you want to know?" Against his better judgment Wrex asked the question anyway.

"I don't want to hurt her. She's getting touchy. More importantly she's taking off pieces sometimes." Garrus sighed. Tali had taken to dragging Garrus to the dark side of the Mako at night and kissing him good night her way. The other night she had run a hand through his crest without her glove on. While the act itself was endearing, most of Garrus's brain had been screaming in shock that she would expose herself like that.

"Taking off pieces?"

"Of her suit. I don't want her to get sick because of me."

"Since biting isn't part of Turian mating you should be fine." Wrex said with a smirk.

The jab emitted a low growl from Garrus. "Okay, okay. You're not a mated pair. Yet." Wrex got in another jab cautiously but this time Garrus didn't growl. He was too torn to.

Part of him wanted to make Tali his mate. Not just his wife but his mate. Turians could get married like Humans did but when they mated that was the end all. The two were bonded for life and either could take another mate even if one of them died. Divorce was not an option though that isn't to say that some mated pairs drifted apart and took up different partners. Still this was extremely rare.

However, Garrus knew that when Saren was dead Tali would leave to go back to the Flotilla bearing the gift of the coded Geth data discs. Those were sure to get her accepted onto any ship she wanted. She'd be back with her people. Safe. Where she could get married, have her one kid. Be back with all the noise and crowding that she said she missed.

Really he was being foolish. Under Citadel law Tali was still a child, she was a Quarian, and Garrus had gotten himself disowned over her. By all rights he was insane but he didn't care. If he was smart he should have gone groveling back to his father begging to forgiveness with Tali's head on a platter. If he was smart he wouldn't torture himself all day looking forward to the good night kiss they shared every night. If he was smart he'd cut all ties now so that it wouldn't hurt so much when she did leave.

However, Garrus wasn't smart. He'd enjoy every moment he could so that when she was gone he would have some memories to keep him warm at night. There was no use to waiver from that plan of action. His heart had already chosen and it had picked out the young machinist.

"We can never become mates. I couldn't ask her to choose between her people and me."

"Yet you chose her over your family."

"I was never close to my father. He's too rigid in his morals and thinking."

Wrex didn't say anything in reply. His own horrid relationship with his father was just another thing the ancient battlemaster had in common with the younger C-Sec agent, though Wrex would never admit it.

"So you going to do anything with your new found knowledge?" Wrex asked.

"Probably not. Not a lot of privacy on the Normandy."

"How said you need privacy? You could charge people for tickets. I'm willing to bet if you recorded it, it might be the first Quarian porn on the extranet."

Garrus's mandibles twitched in annoyance. He was trying very hard not to drill Wrex between the eyes.

However it was Shepard that replied first. "That's just wrong Wrex. Just wrong."


	4. Chapter 4

When it's over

It's hard to be mad at a dead person. Especially if you killed that person twice. And it makes even less sense to be mad at that person for dying when you were shooting at him relentlessly.

Yes Garrus was angry with Saren for dying. Mostly because after the final battle was over and the galaxy saved for now, she had left.

It was an inevitability yes but Garrus thought he would have dealt with it better. Still last night hadn't helped at all.

Tali had come to him in the night during the trip to Ilos. It was no secret that Garrus would be one of the ground team and Tali said she wanted to spend some time with him. They had spent the night in each other's arms in the back of the Mako. Simply just taking in the other's comforting presence. He had left her sleeping in the Mako to go get armored up and when he returned she was gone. That was the last time he saw her.

He told himself he wasn't mad at her. And really he wasn't. He just thought they would have had the time to have one last conversation before she returned to the Flotilla. Just what they would have talked about he didn't know.

Maybe they would have rehashed old times. Maybe he would have pleaded with her to stay despite his own vow not to put her in such a position of choosing. Maybe they wouldn't have said anything and just shared one last kiss. Maybe it was just as well they didn't get to have a last goodbye. After all it's hard to top spending the night with your love in your arms as a last memory.

Besides, the Normandy's crew was breaking up for an extended vacation. The Normandy herself was in drydock undergoing extensive repairs. Shepard was practically bed ridden given her injuries though Liara was more than happy to play nurse. Those two had taken up residence on the Citadel for the time being.

Ashley was plucked by Alliance Brass to be a Drill Instructor. Wrex predictably went back to his bounty hunter ways. Garrus hoped he wouldn't run into his old friend anytime soon. In a fight between himself and Wrex, Garrus wasn't sure which one of them would limp away.

As for himself, Shepard had put his name forward for Spectre candidacy and the Council had accepted rather quickly. The Council owed Shepard a lot considering Shepard had saved their asses quiet literally. And really while Shepard was out of the picture they Council needed a replacement Spectre and Garrus was it.

Garrus finally worked for himself and wouldn't be constrained at all. He couldn't help but grin as an evil thought crossed his mind. He finally could go over Executor Pallin's head. Hell, he could actually punch him and get away with it. And while he was tramping around the realm he would run into the Migrant Fleet. If they were in Citadel space maybe he could use his new rank to get to see her again. Then again that probably wasn't the best way to use his position nor see her again. If he was honest with himself he would just have to marry his work because his heart had gone back to her home.


	5. Chapter 5

Comrades

If you had asked him 12 months ago if he would be working for a Human Spectre, Garrus would have told you no.

If you had asked him 10 months ago if he would be working side by side with a Krogan, Garrus would have told you no.

8 months ago he would have told you he'd never cover a Krogan in a tactical retreat.

6 months ago he'd never consider _volunteering_ for a mission that was strictly familial business for a Krogan.

4 months ago he'd never expect a Krogan's help in a backing him up after he had killed Dr. Heart. Shepard had not been happy about that at all. Tali simply chose not to talk that particular episode of his life.

If you asked him 2 months ago if he'd ever ask a Krogan for relationship advice, he'd ask you what you were smoking.

A month ago he'd tell you that you were crazy for even suggesting he'd almost die while standing shoulder to shoulder with a Krogan. That's exactly what happened during the Citadel siege though.

A week ago he'd never think he'd be where he was now. Sitting in the back of Chora's Den trying to use the loud music and drinks to drown out his sorrow. Wrex sat on the stool next to him, silently keeping pace with Garrus's drinking.

Only once did Garrus break the silence between them. "Thanks, Wrex." He didn't elaborate further by more words weren't needed.

Wrex grunted. "What else are comrades for?"

A/N: I decided to take a small detour as you can all see. We'll get back to the main couple soon enough though. And more length. I promise. Thanks to the people who have been reviewing.


	6. Chapter 6

Turian Stand off

It's not often one can have a calm conversation with a mercenary. Not when you have a pistol in their face because they have a shotgun in yours.

"How have you been Wrex? It's been a while." Garrus asked his old comrade. To take a page out of Wrex's book, he might like Wrex but that wouldn't stop him from killing the Krogan.

"Business has been on and off. I hear you're a Spectre now."

"They needed someone to take over for Shepard while she recovered."

"Hm. How's she and Blue doing these days?" Wrex asked as he shifted ever so slightly to the left. There were some crates over there. Maybe he could knock them over onto Garrus. He really didn't want to have to kill Garrus just because the Spectre had happened upon him while he was working. It was a simple delivery mission moving some illegal arms and mods from point A, the space station they were on now, to some planet near the Terminus System border.

"Shepard is back on her feet. Liara is teaching at the university. Prothean archeology naturally."

"Naturally."

"How's Aleena?"

Wrex just sent Garrus a hard stare that would have sent most creatures running for their very lives.

"How's Tali?"

Garrus stiffened and glared back at Wrex. "Fair enough. Why are you here Wrex?"

"That's my business, Spectre."

"I guess I'd rather not know. How would you like to walk away from your second standoff with a Spectre?"

"You saying I wouldn't walk away from this?" Wrex asked arching his eyebrow. Garrus had more definitely learned something from being in the world outside the Citadel. The Turian almost had as many balls as he did.

"We could always find out. Never know, it could be fun." Garrus said flashing a sly toothy grin. Then he got serious again. "You've worked with a Spectre before so you know the perks. You can do all the unchecked wonton destruction you want. And you already know we make a great combat team."

"I thought Spectres worked alone."

"Did Shepard?"

"Why me? You obviously didn't come here looking for me. You were just as surprised to see me as I was to see you."

"I tend to do missions that lean in a direction you'd like."

"And that is?"

"Shoot first, ask questions later."

Wrex couldn't help but grin. Shooting always perked his interest and lately he hadn't been doing too much of that.

"I've taken partners from time to time. They normally don't stay alive very long. I figured you might survive a few days." Garrus said offhandedly.

"So what are we killing here?" Wrex said lowering his shotgun.

Garrus lowered his pistol. "The head of a crime ring is supposed to be on station. I was thinking of just assassinating him quietly." Garrus trailed off and smiled at the look of distaste that showed up on Wrex's face. "But if you want we could always redecorate the place."

Wrex couldn't help but smile. It would be nice to have a partner he knew could keep up with him and wouldn't die so easily. "If you live through this I'll consider your offer. I'm getting tired of being a delivery boy."

"If you live through this we can talk terms. It's not a full time job. Just for cases like this when I could use a helping hand." Garrus said putting away his pistol and taking out his shotgun.

Wrex nodded approvingly at Garrus's choice of weapon. "Bet you a lap dance at Chora's Den that I kill more guys then you."

"You're on."

A/N: I like the idea of Garrus and Wrex still working together after saving the galaxy and so I made it so. And it was good. How could it not be? They make one hell of a combat team and if you go renegade with Garrus I can see the two getting along famously. Garrus would become a Spectre willing to do whatever it took and that usually means killing everything that moves. Wrex loves that kind of work. Enough said. Besides, I needed another male character for Garrus to talk to. I always kill off Kaiden, and Shepard is female in this verse. Plus I can do fun things like above.


	7. Chapter 7

Recordings

Tali lay in her bunk staring at the ceiling. She really should be sleeping but thoughts kept running though her head as she listened to her collection of recordings. She knew she shouldn't be torturing herself like this. Hanging on to ghosts of the past. Listening to _his_ voice always made her heart clench in pain and longing. Still, she had been the one that had put herself in this situation and she would deal with it. After all, she was an adult now.

It had been some time since someone had brought something back that would be of large significance to the Flotilla. The data disks that Tali had brought back would still take years to decrypt but everyone could see the potential value they had. Tali had her pick of what ship she wanted to join. She chose a medium cruiser, the Natoyya, and was made an engineer.

On this ship she didn't get the special treatment she had received on the Rayya and for that Tali was glad. The Natoyya was an older vessel and so Tali kept rather busy. She would allow herself to get lost in the daily life of a Quarian ship.

She'd wake up in the morning and go to the mess to eat breakfast. Then she'd meet with the rest of the engineering team and they would hand out the day's assignments. At first Tali got given the easier tasks to handle but she soon proved herself to be exceptional at her work. Now it was a matter of course that she got the somewhat harder jobs. Her days of work were only broken up by lunch and dinner and a quick shower at the end of the day. Then it would be back to her small corner of the sleeping area she shared with several other single females on the ship. And the cycle would repeat itself.

It wasn't always so dreary for Tali. In the beginning she really did enjoy being back amongst the crowds and noise that she had grown up around. Being able to hear her native tongue and eat Quarian cuisine was an absolute treat. The best part was not having to always wear the damned biosuit. In the year she had spent away from the Flotilla she had grown. Not too much but enough that the suit was starting to get uncomfortable around the hips and chest. If things hadn't ended when they had Tali would have been forced to ask Shepard if they could find her another biosuit somewhere on the Citadel.

Tali could feel she cheeks warm up with blushing. If things had come to that she would have been hard pressed to come up with an acceptable excuse to ditch Garrus. She didn't know how it started but whenever they had time off on the Citadel she and Garrus would go off by themselves. After the first few times it just was expected that they would wander the Wards together. Even shopping wasn't a deterrent to Garrus who rarely ever offered an opinion but would dutifully carry and bags that Tali accumulated. So going shopping for a biosuit to fit her growing figure without the stoic C-Sec agent wouldn't have gone without notice.

Tali knew that Joker had a betting pool going about Garrus and herself. About what exactly she didn't know. She did know that no one would talk to her about it, always skirting around the subject every time she brought it up.

Tali wondered idly if Garrus knew about the betting pool. Garrus would have known Tali decided after a moment. He was an ex-detective. It was his job to find out things that no one wanted to be made known. And he was very observant. On many occasion she had caught him looking at her. Not in a lustful way like some of the crewmen of the Natoyya did or in the strictly tactical sense that Wrex or Ashley used to do. It was a more measured look, like he was appreciating a scenic view.

That thought made Tali blush again. Ancestors help her she knew Garrus would have noticed her figure and appreciated it. She wasn't vain or anything but Tali knew she had an appealing figure. Wide hips, narrow waist and ample sized breasts packaged in a small frame. A pretty face with expressive large eyes made Tali popular among the males of the ship. It was never hard for her to find someone willing to help her out if she needed it. Still she didn't accept help all that often. She didn't like the company of the men on the ship. More specifically the way they looked at her. If she wanted anyone to look at her with a lustful look in their eyes it wasn't one of them. That person wasn't even Quarian. Or even in this part of the galaxy. That person was somewhere in Citadel space probably working at C-Sec again.

Tali let out a groan of frustration. She really, really should be sleeping and not torturing herself like this. He was just a friend. That she had spent all her free time with. And kissed. A lot. And loved. Tali shook her head as if to get the thought of him out of her head. Why couldn't she stop thinking about him? Was there something wrong with her?

That must be the case. She had to be broken or something. She'd been back with the Flotilla almost 2 years and she was still single. She kept to herself to such a point she was almost a ghost on the ship. It wasn't that she didn't find her work interesting, she just didn't find any of the males interesting.

They were all just a little taller than her, not towering over her like him. All their eyes were big like hers, not hawk-like and sky blue like his. No one had his commanding presence. His smooth, silky voice. Sure he had hard ridges on his head instead of hair. And razor sharp teeth. But his lips were soft and very kissable. He had talons yes but he could be very gentle with them. Just like when he would run his hand through her hair.

Tali quietly swooned at that particular memory. On very, very rare occasion they would sneak off to the medical bay after Dr. Chakwas had turned in for the night and Tali would take off her helmet. Then they would "make out" as Shepard had once said. Garrus was particularly fascinated with her hair since Turians didn't have any. Since Tali never took more than her gloves and helmet off they never ventured further then kissing. Still, given her constant lack of actual physical contact, whenever Tali did get to touch Garrus it was almost orgasmic. Scratch that, it was orgasmic. He was a very good kisser. On more than one occasion Tali had found herself straddling Garrus trying to strip his armor off. Garrus always stopped her, being the ruthless rational bastard he was but in hindsight Tali was always glad he kept his head.

She didn't know what the Turian's body looked like since he was always incased in armor like she was. Tali didn't even know if they would "fit" together. If he were a Quarian sure. If he was a Quarian his height and everything was in proportion… Tali blushed. She wasn't all that innocent. She hadn't done anything personally but she had heard the stories and of course there was always Quarian porn. She'd stolen one of her dad's porn OSDs when she was about 13 and been thoroughly scared. Extreme bondage is not something that should be seen as an introduction to porn.

Even if everything did work out, Tali really didn't want to lose her virginity in a hasty lustful romp that could potentially be interrupted at any moment if there was a medical emergency. Garrus would always say, "You'll thank me later for stopping us."

She never did thank him. Not even once. Maybe it was his fault she was like this. Maybe if he hadn't stopped them all those times she wouldn't be lying in her bed listening to that recording of his voice and wondering just what it would be like. With him. It had to be with him. No one else would do or deserved that gift.

Garrus had most definitely earned her respect, admiration, and love. Yes she loved him. How could she not? He was always there for her. Even in the very beginning. When Fist's assassins scattered from her tech mine and she had hid by that crate, he had come rushing up and placed himself between harm and herself. He made her feel comfortable on the Normandy and watched over her on the few missions they had been on together.

On her last one, Thermire when they had rescued Dr. Liara Tsoni, Garrus had saved her life. The Prothean ruins were coming down around them and they were all running for their very lives. Tali had taken a misstep, twisted her ankle and fell. Garrus had been running alongside her up to that point. His gait forced him several paces past her but he double backed and scooped her up in his arms. Clutching her close to his chest and hunched over to protect her, Garrus carried her out of the ruins. Tali later found out that Garrus earned a few cracked ribs from rocks falling on him during their flight.

Tali shuffled through her recordings until she found the recording that Garrus had given her. It was the songs they had danced to at Flux. It had been during one of their rest and resupply stops at the Citadel and the crew had gone to Flux. Shepard had been dancing with Liara. Tali had been watching the fledging couple at that time and stealing glances at Garrus. The glances hadn't gone unnoticed. After a few more songs Garrus finally got up from his seat and asked Tali to dance. Later Shepard would tell Tali that the two looked so good together when they danced. Who knew that Garrus could "cut a rug" like that? Seriously, just how many Turians do you see on the dance floor at Flux? Humans; yes. Salarians; sure. Asari; a dead given. A Turian? It had to have made the news. Given the quality that the elevator news spewed out it wouldn't surprise Tali.

The next recording was her most treasured one. It was the one of Garrus cooing right after his blow up with his father. Tali had spent a good 10 minutes in Garrus's lap with her head against his chest listening and feeling the vibrations of his satisfaction. If she could have, Tali would have cooed right back. It had made her so happy because she knew she was enough for Garrus. Up until that point they weren't officially seeing each other. It had been more a game of hit and miss. After that though Tali knew she could make Garrus happy. And that thought just made her sad and back where she began; pining over something she had left behind.

Garrus had picked her over his family. That was just about as blasphemous as you got as a Turian by putting one's self over the collective body. She had meant that much to him. And what does she do? She had only stayed long enough to know he had survived the Citadel siege before leaving to return to the Flotilla.

Tali blinked several times to try and get rid of the angry tears that were forming. She had been such a coward. She ran away without a proper goodbye. No last talk. No note. No nothing. Just emptiness to return to. She had her many recordings of him to remember him by. He had nothing physical to remember her by. Maybe it was better that way. Make it easier for him to move on.

Tali turned over and buried her head in her pillow. Who was she kidding? She had been scared and had used her pilgrimage as an excuse. She could have sent off the geth data disks at any point instead of hand delivering them. All because she was scared of what she was feeling. She knew she was in love but _he wasn't QUARIAN!_ What was wrong with her? She had kept dreaming of a life with him, a life not on the Flotilla. Such thinking was insane.

Tali always knew that some never came back from their Pilgrimages but she had always been taught that they had met unfortunate ends. Never had she considered that they might have found happiness outside of the Migrant Fleet. A Quarian not returning to the Flotilla was as likely as a Turian being happy at being disowned.

Tali rolled back over to stare at the ceiling once more. She had been afraid. Afraid that she was somehow different. Afraid to be in love so deeply. Afraid that she didn't want to return home. Due to that fear she had made a mistake. She must have. Otherwise why was it she wasn't happy here? The solution was easy enough to see but the execution of that solution posed problems.

First she had to convince the captain to drop her off at some Citadel world or spaceport. Then she had to make her way to the Citadel proper. Then find him. Simple enough but first she had to convince the captain that she wasn't crazy. Most Quarians didn't leave the Flotilla again after their pilgrimage. It happened but not very often. Second she had to get transport back to the Citadel. She had a credit card with some credits on it. Garrus had helped her get a Citadel account opened in her name, with him as a co-signer since as a Quarian she was considered a second class Citadel citizen. He gave her a few credits every pay day since he was still on the C-Sec payroll due to clerical oversight (political muscle and backdoor politics made it so that Shepard had a Turian keeping an eye on her, though not once did Garrus do his job and report anything on Shepard). Shepard also saw that Tali got paid by the Alliance since she did work in Engineering in an official capacity. So Tali had credits.

Finding him should be simple. Just walk into C-Sec and ask about him. The hardest part would be actually facing him. What would he say? How would he react? Tali would be basically asking to walk back into his life after 2 years. What if he had moved on? Then what? Tali supposed she could return to the Flotilla then. Maybe if she had a solid rejection she could then find a nice Quarian boy to settle down with.

On the other hand, what would she do if he did take her back? There were some serious practical obstacles to overcome. She'd have to clean his living area like crazy and turn him into a clean freak at home just to be safer. At least that way she could be out of her biosuit at home. That's another thing. She'd have to wear a biosuit everywhere. Could she handle that? What if she got pregnant? Did they have maternity biosuits?

Tali placed a hand on her flat belly. What was she thinking?! Could she even get pregnant by him? What it possible? Or was she dooming them both to having no kids? Could they deal with that? At least Shepard and Liara had a shot at being complete cross-species family. Maybe they could adopt, if Turians did that.

And what about work? She'd have to find a job at some point. She supposed that Garrus might be able to support both of them but she would go stir crazy confined to just an apartment. Just like she as going crazy with all these thoughts in her head. She couldn't keep going on like this, indecisively drifting through her life. She needed to make a choice and stick to it. Life on the Flotilla or off of it?

Tali sighed and turned onto her side. She closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep. She'd make her decision in the morning.

A/N: Anyone want to take a stab at what Tali will decide? Also what do you think; are Turians and Quarians compatible enough to have viable offspring?

Apologies for any grammar and spelling errors. I had to pull CQ again which meant staying up for 24 straight hours on duty. By the time I uploaded this I was at the 27 hour mark. However, to make up for the really short two chapters last time I'm giving you two chapters with some real meat to them. Especially this Tali chapter. Until next time. I'm going to sleep now.


	8. Chapter 8

Journey Home

The galaxy really isn't all that big when you think about. It's just a handful of stars clustered together compared to the endless sea of lights in the whole universe. And within the galaxy there are only so many planets with people on them. So the odds of running into someone you know are rather good actually.

Tali had been pleasantly surprised to find Dr. Liara Tsoni on a small transport heading to the Citadel. After exchanging greeting hugs the pair went back to Liara's room to talk. The room wasn't very big but at least it was a private one. Tali's bunk was one of six in the room she had. Tali sat cross legged on Liara's bed while the Asari maiden sat across from her with her legs tucked under her.

"Still doing digs Liara?" Tali chirped. That had to be the only reason Liara would be found on the outskirts of Citadel space.

The Prothean expert expression changed to that of guilt and embarrassment. "About that. Please don't tell Shepard. She doesn't know that I make these excursions." Liara said sheepishly.

"Only if you tell me what is going on Blue." Tali used the Asari's nickname to try and coax some details out of the reclusive doctor. The two had forged a strong bond while on the Normandy. Both were single children of very powerful parents and had isolated upbringings. During the early days of the Normandy, and especially when they were left on the ship during missions, the two of them would talk. The crew at the time normally ignored them and Ashley and Alenko were always busy with their various duties. That didn't stop the highly imaginative Humans from coming up with very original nicknames for the aliens on the ship.

Garrus was "Cop" because of his last job. Liara was "Blue" due to her skin color. Tali was "Purp" as in short for purple for the color on her biosuit. Wrex was of course just Wrex. Feel free to come up with a nickname for him. The only requirement is that you have to actually use it. In a sentence. In his presence. Exactly.

Liara shifted a little to buy herself time. After Shepard, Tali was the person she trusted the most, even with the absence of 2 years.

"It took Shepard about 6 months to get back to active duty fitness. It wasn't so bad at first. She'd take missions that might last a week or so. I took a job at the university teaching Prothean classes. Then Shepard started taking longer and longer missions. She leaves me a timetable and usually sticks to them but she's home only a few days a month."

"And so you go on digs while she's away?" Tali concluded.

Liara nodded glumly. "Our apartment just feels so empty without her there. I prefer not to be there when she's not."

"Sounds like you need to talk to her Liara. And talk to Jane, not Shepard."

The Asari maiden tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean Tali?"

"You haven't said Shepard's first name once this whole time. You're using her last name as a means of emotionally distancing yourself."

Liara sighed. "I'll speak with her next time she decides to come home." Then Liara smirked an evil knowing smirk that promised trouble. "So Tali, just what are you doing headed towards the Citadel. Isn't the Flotilla in the other direction?"

It was Tali's turn to squirm under interrogation. Tali had only said goodbye to Liara and had asked her to let Garrus know that she had left to return home. "I'm not entirely sure." Tali answered truthfully.

That was enough to take the playfulness out of the conversation. "He's a Spectre now too."

Tali stiffened at the news. If he was a Spectre now then the plan of just finding him at C-Sec went out the airlock. "I see."

"He has a place in the Upper Wards near us, though he's gone a lot too. Sometimes he leaves messages letting us know how he's doing." Liara said sadly.

"What aren't you telling me Liara?" Tali said leaning forward.

"I'm not sure if it is my place to say."

"Please Liara. I need to know."

"He took your leaving pretty hard. It's like when you left you took the softer side of him with you. I think he pushes himself so hard to distract himself. And I think since he's seen as Shepard's apprentice she feels the need to keep up with him. He doesn't have a wife at home to think about so he's constantly doing missions." Liara said with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

The tone was so foreign and seemed so unreal coming from Liara that Tali was stunned. Liara and mad were not two things that should be in the same sentence, let alone experienced.

"Maybe I can talk to him on your behalf."

"Thank you Tali. I'm sure he'll listen to you." Liara returned to her normal soft tone.

"I wish I was as confidant as you." Tali sighed.

"Why Tali?"

"You make it sound like I broke his heart. I don't know how keen I would be to see someone that did that to me." Tali said sadly. Part of her wished she hadn't talked with Liara. It made her less sure about what she was doing was the right thing.

Liara reached forward and patted the younger woman's arm reassuringly. "I don't think you broke his heart Tali. I think you just left him incomplete. Like you're his other half. His soul mate. "

Tali nodded meekly. Liara wasn't making her feel better and Tali was glad couldn't see the sad, confused expression on her face. Did Garrus really see her as his other half? Did that mean he loved her like she loved him? They never said they loved each other. They never said they even liked each other. They just sort of got together. The closest either of them came to any sort of declaration of feelings wasn't even verbal. Garrus had cooed while holding her after his had gotten disowned.

Yes they kissed but maybe Turians were just really affectionate. The Asari were. At least Liara was with Shepard. Was she really soul mate material like Liara said? Tali knew about soul mates because of conversations she had had with Liara back during the Normandy days. Still that was a Human and Asari thing, this idea of soul mates. Quarians didn't have that concept. They had love and marriage but the idea that there was an exact matching person meant for just you in this universe seemed a little silly to Tali. What were the odds you would meet that person or that they were even of the same species?

Maybe Tali was just looking for reasons to doubt. Doubt him, doubt herself, she wasn't really sure. Was she making the right choice? If she wasn't it was too late now. She would just have to live with whatever decision he made when they saw each other again.

She couldn't go back to the Flotilla. She had spoken with her father one last time before leaving. It had been a very… odd experience to say the least. Her relationship with her father had always been distant, especially after her mother died. The fact that Tali looked a lot like her mother didn't help matters. Still, when Admiral Zorah heard that his daughter was leaving the fleet he had requested that she see him.

The exchange was very one sided. Tali's father had tried to placate his daughter with a few words about how it would just take time to get used to life on the Flotilla again.

"I don't want the Flotilla, father. I just want to go home."

That was all Tali had said the entire time she was with her father. During her father's career, Tali's family had moved to many ships so the word "home" had special meaning for them. Yes the Migrant Fleet was constantly moving so the Quarian idea of home was the mobile collection of ships but to Tali and her father is meant something else. It wasn't a specific ship or location within a vessel, it was a person. Someone that made them feel like they could relax and feel loved by; Tali's mother. Since her passing either father nor daughter had used the word "home" until today.

Tali's father looked at her for a long time before opening a drawer in his small desk. He took out a small rectangular box and gave it to Tali saying, "Go home Tali. Go home."

Tali merely nodded, took and box and didn't look back. She was going home.

A/N: Yeah, more to come. Anyone else live in so many countries they don't call home a place but rather a collection of people? No? Just me? Oh okay. Do leave a review after the next chapter and put in your thoughts on who you think it is. Also, how are you guys liking the updates as they are; a double update with one chapter for Garrus and one for Tali?


	9. Chapter 9

Showers are better than sex

His will was gone but he didn't care. His shields were gone. Armor being stripped off piece by piece but he didn't care. He was worn out, tired, exhausted. Even without the weight of his armor Garrus only managed to stagger a few more steps before dropping to his knees. He hung his head and waited for the water to pour over him.

Garrus had to suppress a groan of pleasure. Nothing, not even drunken sex, came close to the rapture that was the after mission shower. The hot water washed away a month's worth of dirt, grime, and a rainbow of dried blood.

Red Human blood, blue Turian blood, orange Krogan blood, green Salarian blood. Most of it was other people's blood but some of it was his. The Turian blood was his this time around. Some Human had managed to hit him when his shields were gone and gave him another scar. His body was covered in them now. Turian skin was tougher than most other species but it wasn't impervious to bullets and knives.

Still, the wounds he sustained would heal and Wrex made sure he wouldn't die. No way was Garrus going to die while Wrex had bragging rights over him. Besides, Garrus owed the battlemaster several lap dances from Chora's Den and Garrus always paid his debts.

This last mission had been a little more grueling than usual. Garrus had been sent to investigate a crime syndicate that had somehow been running red sand to the Citadel itself in rather large quantities. Garrus took Wrex with him as had become his custom for the 18 months. It was a good thing he had. The welcome they received was rather hearty.

For the better part of two weeks Wrex and Garrus played guerilla war games on a small asteroid. They would take over a small section at a time, abandoning it a day or so later in favor for a newer home.

The game plan was a simple one. Shotguns at the ready the rampaging duo would blast anything that moved. This is where Wrex would have the most fun and rack up a sizable lead in their little standing bet. Then they would stay in the room or area for a time while Garrus sniped anyone foolish enough to try to retake the area from them. In the beginning Garrus was able to gain some ground back on his Krogan partner. These syndicate thugs weren't all that smart after all.

However, after the two week mark things got really serious as the leadership and the rest of the group arrived to try to root the Spectre out of their home. It really didn't surprise Garrus to be killing so many Krogan and Humans. The Salarians were a surprise though. They didn't tend to be in crime this hardcore. They did die just as easily though.

However, things did get to the point where even Wrex started to complain about all the killing. Well not complain, but the Krogan did comment at increasingly frequent intervals that a real meal would be nice, or a shower. They were men yes. Very manly men but even manly men can get to a point of such foul smelling funk that even other men can't stand the smell.

Eventually Wrex's nagging, but not whining, Krogan battlemasters never whined, got to Garrus. A week of constant bitching finally broke the Spectre and set him in "fuck it mode." Consequences be damned he was going to finish his job and then go home if only to shut Wrex up. His solution; borrow a play out of Wrex's book, blow up the whole freaking place. That's right, Spectre Garrus Vakarian added destroyer of entire asteroids to his list of things he did to piss the Council off.

The duo's agenda when they got back to the Citadel was a well rehearsed script. Shower for 2 hours, get on fresh clothes and then meet at Chora's Den for dances and drinks. Loser paid for dances, but the winner had to pay for the drinks. Garrus's was Turian ale. Wrex's was the human drink prune juice. "A warrior's drink," Wrex had said with pride when Garrus asked him about it.

As was his custom, Garrus didn't even talk to the Council when he got back to the Citadel. He sent in his report and went directly to his quarters and stripped off his armor and took a shower. A very long, hot shower.

He never even noticed his tail or that someone had entered his room after him.

A/N: I know it is short. And the muse was a shower. Have you ever gone a month without a shower? I've gone 8 days and not by choice. Field problems suck but it has convinced me that there is indeed nothing better than a long hot shower after. Give any infantryman the option between a beautiful woman or a shower after days in the field, and the shower wins every time. This just goes to prove that men can think and long about something else apart from women. Sorry girls.

Also, if anyone can tell me who I stole the one line of dialogue from then you are just as bad a trekkie as I.

To answer those that just want Tali to stop questioning her decisions about Garrus, I wish is was that easy. I'm happy to see we live in a world where anyone no matter what they look like or come from can be accepted and loved so easily. Unfortunately, Tali grew up in a very xenophobic culture that purposely isolated itself from the rest of the universe. The Pilgrimage, I think is, more for the finding of resources, then anything else.

Apart from the Asari, there are no mentions of any cross-species romantic relationship in the ME universe. So Tali is going to have issues with accepting the fact that she's attracted to someone not of her own species. Garrus might have some issues, but he grew up exposed to the idea of cross-species relationships so maybe not. So Tali will have some issues, she's making the bigger changes having to go against what she's learned her entire life. And I get to stall and try to come up with a believable way to make everything work.


	10. Chapter 10

3 Months Later

Questions

Garrus was mad. He was angry. Confused. Pissed off. Fortunately Wrex had come to his rescue and took him away from the things that were making him so angry namely the Citadel Council and _her_.

The Council had tried to tear him a new one for the whole asteroid incident. All the debris had cost a bundle to clear the nearby shipping lane. Never mind that prior to Garrus's solution that particular shipping lane was constantly attacked by the pirates who had been on the asteroid. Really in the long run Garrus had saved untold amounts of credits and lives. Garrus had had to point that out to the Asari Councilor in particular. If you could get to her generally you were safe. The Salarian never said much to Garrus, and the Turian was either chewing him out or praising him depending on the mission. The asteroid one had left him speechless.

And then there was her. Garrus couldn't believe he never noticed that he was being tailed back to him place. Nor that she had come in while he was showering. That didn't stop Garrus from finding out there is one thing better then a shower after a long mission; sex in the shower.

After the first few days of love making Garrus and Tali managed to actually have a conversation that lasted more than a few words. He never asked why she left the Flotilla. The reason seemed obvious but it still bugged him. He really didn't think he was worth giving up her entire people and culture for. Taliwas going to have to learn a lot more about the outside world than she did during her Pilgrimage.

Just like Garrus was learning a lot about her. After the lust had left his mind Garrus had panicked. He had been a lot rougher than he should have been. Soft bodies like Tali's weren't made for the rigors of Turian mating. On top of having Tali out of her biosuit for a few days, Garrus was sure he had somehow infected her with something. After all, he had bit her in the clef of her neck and they hadn't even thought of using protection.

Thankfully Tali calmed his fears by going with him to visit Dr. Michelle. Quarians had a weakened immune system, not a nonexistent one. Plus Tali was tough. She'd been shot before, 3 years ago before the whole Saren mess. All Dr. Michelle told them was that they shouldn't be so playful and the bruising would go away on its own. The bite mark would scar but if Tali kept it clean it shouldn't bother her too much. Her immune implants should be able to handle it though Dr. Michelle didn't recommend that Tali get bitten again. Lastly, the good doctor told them plainly that she didn't know if Garrus could get Tali pregnant. Cross-species fertilization was highly unlikely.

That was just the first few days. Garrus had had to put up with Wrex for having not make their traditional after mission meeting down at Chora's Den. Whoever, Wrex was too put out. He had like Tali since she was smart and hadn't bugged him in the Normandy days. Plus she had made him a lot of money too. Turns out there had been a bet placed amongst the crew prior to everyone splitting up. After welcoming back the little tweep Wrex went off to place a call to Joker to collect his winnings. The bet had been that Tali would be the one to find Garrus, not Garrus going off to find Tali. The time limit had been 5 years.

Liara of course knew about Tali and had told Jane. The welcome back party had been very enjoyable. They had gotten both the Spectres drunk. Both had been foolish enough to try to drink Wrex under the table. Both had failed miserably and had to be taken home by their respective partners. Wrex ended up sleeping it off in a corner of Flux. Would you have told him that he couldn't?

When the fun and games were over the practical matters of life took hold. Garrus went to the bank and set it up so that Tali could use his account. They got her a spare biosuit and Liara and Jane took her shopping. Tali didn't like wearing her biosuit in his, their apartment not that he complained.

Even so, just like during their Normandy days, most of their communication was nonverbal. They still used their special hand signals to talk to one another even when it was just them at home. And it worked for them. Sometimes words really just made things awkward. Besides, when Tali wasn't in her biosuit she didn't have a translator on her. Same went for Garrus when he got home at night. Tali had taken the liberty of getting him some clothes. Before Tali, Garrus had exactly 2 sets of civilian clothes; a formal and casual set both of which just stayed in the closet.

So they were slowly learning each other's language and cultures. Garrus hadn't been able to talk his way out of why he had bitten Tali in the first place. All Turian wear was made with a large collar to accommodate their physic, namely their large feathery shoulders and hood and show off their collar areas and any bite marks one might have.

It was an old evolutionary throwback of marking mates. One bite mark to say that the female was spoken for. Two bite marks was for the alpha female in a flock. Polygamy wasn't common but not unheard of in Turian culture.

So now Garrus was, as Jane had put it, in the dog house. Tali wanted Garrus to bite the other side of her neck and leave a scar there. Garrus didn't want to, citing Dr. Michelle's medical advice. Tali hadn't bought it. So Garrus pointed out that no one would see it since she didn't go outside of their apartment without her biosuit. At that Tali had thrown up her hands and not spoken him in any manner for days.

Tali hadn't even helped him put on his armor before this mission. Since she had come back Tali had always helped him put on his armor. Tali had said it was an ancient throw back of her own culture when they still fought with melee weapons on her homeworld. The woman of the house would help put the man's of the house armor on before he went to battle. It was supposed to be a bonding experience and it was. Garrus had to trust that Tali was putting on his armor right after all. Even if she was a mechanical genius Garrus had to admit that he had triple checked everything later to make sure it was done right the first time. After that he just trusted Tali to do it right. After all, she wanted him to come back home alive too.

Garrus wasn't too sure this time though. She really was mad at him and he didn't know why. This fight had been far worse than their usual ones. One of the positive things about communicating nonverbally was that it is hard to fight that way. The down side was that when they did have their translators on there was about a 50% chance they would end up fighting. Normally though by the time they made it back to their place they had settled the argument and had mind blowing make up sex. Maybe that was why they always fought.

Still Garrus knew that this fight was different and he knew Tali. This wouldn't end until he figured out just what he had done wrong. That didn't stop him from being mad at her for being stubborn. If she would just tell him why she was so angry with him than he could fix the issue and try not to do it again.

Unfortunately he was on mission once more. A nice month long one. He probably wouldn't have taken it if he hadn't been so mad. With Tali at home he did't want to be gone so long and hadn't taken missions that were more than a week. Wrex had liked the change of pace for the first few weeks but the shorter missions tended to be easier ones. And easy meant less things to kill. Less things to kill meant a bored Wrex. So Wrex was more than happy to go on a long mission with Garrus again. A pissed off Garrus. One that like to make things go boom.

Garrus had been gaining a reputation as the last Spectre anyone wanted to see. He talked back to the Council, often not listening to them. He did get results though no matter the cost which generally appeased the Turian Councilor and as long as he kept civilian casualties down the other Councilors didn't complain too loudly. He also took the most dangerous or morally questionable missions. As a result though, he had become Saren in a way. He had the most free reign and was the clear favorite tool of the Council.

He's blown up transports to kill criminals. He's killed people after they have surrendered. He blew up astral bodies. Still, he's got a perfect record and acts as the iron fist for the Council. When it gets really bad, they send Garrus who brings along Wrex for the ride.

It worked for Wrex, he got paid and was gaining all kinds of clout. Wrex was practically a Spectre himself but extension. As long as he was working for Garrus Wrex could get away with even more then he normally could, which was quite considerable already. His personal favorite perk though, was that he didn't have to be questioned every single time he came back to the Citadel. Now he just walked through C-Sec giving what Shepard called a one fingered salute. Looked a little odd as a means of insulting someone, but when Wrex found out what it meant to Humans he really enjoyed greeting Human C-Sec people that way.

The other thing that Wrex did was be Garrus's guy friend. Shepard was the fellow Spectre and coworker. When Shepard was just plain Jane, she and Liara were female friends. Wrex was his guy friend, the one he could do guy things with like head down to Chora's Den to get a few drinks and dances. Three years of friendship had built a bond between the two to where they could help each other out with problems.

Like now. Wrex had been the one that had made Garrus get a mission from the Council to get him away from Tali. Wrex's 1400 years of life experience meant he knew a few things about women and relationships and a little separation can do wonders. It might even stop the current fight the love birds where having. Of course, being guys there were certain protocols they had to go through if they were going to have a conversation which there were emotions. For them, it meant they had to be killing things.

And killing things for a month meant that they could do a little talking here and there without being forced to cram all the talking in just a few days. Plus it meant Garrus could chew over and advice that Wrex might give him. Hopefully, it would be good advice. Wrex might have a lot more life experience than Garrus but Garrus was the one with a woman at home. Granted she was mad at him now but at least she was there. Now all Garrus had to not screw up enough to keep her there. He had a month to figure it out.

A/N: I know I know, it's been a long time since I last updated. I have two excuses, writers block for the first week, then no time the second week. I serious got stuck on how the reunion between Tali and Garrus would be like so I side stepped it. In a week I barely managed a page. The second week was work being a pain. Seriously. We did so much extra PT that it hurt to climb into bed at the end of the day.

Thanks to all of you who have put this story on the story alert list. Extra thanks to those that put me on your fav author/story list. And huge thanks to all of you that review. Feed back is nice. I gave lots of ammo to you this time. There is what Garrus screwed up so bad on. And Tali's immune system is always fun. Also Turian culture. Being Roman based has given me a good idea I think you will all like. I have to torment Tali first though. I'd write the next chapter but I get to go run for an hour with a gas mask on in the morning so I have to go to bed.


	11. Chapter 11

Demise

Tali couldn't believe it. Garrus was being such an idiot. That seemed to be a trait all males shared regardless of species. It wasn't like she was asking him to do something that he hadn't done before so Tali couldn't see what was so difficult about it. If anything she could be the one who would get hurt. Bites weren't painless, though if she was honest with herself Tali couldn't even remember when Garrus first bit her.

When Tali had gotten to the Citadel, Liara had vouched for her at C-Sec saving her a few hours of interview time. Being a Spectre's wife had its perks and Liara wasn't above using them. The pair then spotted their Spectre's headed to their respective homes. Liara had to scamper back quickly to be home before Shepard while Tali hung back, tailing Garrus.

Eventually she followed him to his place. He was so exhausted from his mission he didn't notice her come in after him. When she finally got the courage to disturb him in the shower the results were not what she expected. Losing it in the shower hadn't been her plan but she didn't complain.

Somewhere in the next few days Tali gained very intimate knowledge about the Turian body. In their time on the Normandy the most either of them of them saw of each other was faces. Garrus's feathers were a surprised. Post coitus, Tali loved to stroke them while they cuddled. Tali could see why Garrus liked stroking her hair. It had a soothing effect and was a nice gesture of affection.

His skin was so smooth. It was made of tough scales, so different from her own soft skin. He didn't bruise nearly as easily as she did. Turian coupling was a lot rougher than "soft body" mating as Garrus had called it. When Garrus had brought Tali to see Dr. Michelle, the doctor had asked if Tali had been beaten. Such was the extent of her bruising and scratches.

Then there was the bite mark. At first Tali hadn't thought much of it until she asked Garrus why he had done it. When he was reluctant to answer she had had to drag the answer out of him. The fact that biting was a Turian way of marking mates complicated matters.

Tali was happy at first. The bite was an answer to her own doubts and unasked questions about why she was there and if she could stay. Until she found out that there was more to the mating marks. Maybe it was vanity. Maybe it was insecurity or jealousy but Tali wanted that second mark. That would be a true sign of where she stood in Garrus's life and priorities. Sure no one else would ever see the marks because of her biosuit but it was the thought that matter.

Polygamy was not a Quarian custom but it was Turian. Just the thought that there might one day be another woman with two marks was painful. So when Garrus refused to give her the second mark it had been the start of this now 5 week long argument. All because he said the first bite had been a mistake made in the heat of the moment. They hadn't spoken since. Not even in their language of signs.

Things didn't get any better once Garrus came back. They hadn't talked for the first few hours, instead succumbing to their need for each other caused by the Spectre's absence. It was when they were cuddling afterwards that the second stage of their epic fight began.

Garrus offered to give Tali what she wanted, that second bite mark. However there was a catch and it had been that catch that had caused all the problems. Garrus would bite her if they saw Dr. Michelle soon afterwards and only if they did whatever the Quarian equivalent was to mating bites.

Tali had balked at that. More out of shock and sudden understanding than everything else. Thinking about things in terms of Turian culture somehow not made it set in her mind. She had basically been trying to force Garrus to make her his wife in Turian terms.

The Quarian equal to mating bites were decorative wrist bands. Given that a large number of Quarians opted to stay in their biosuits, matching wrist bands let other people know who was married to whom. Tali had her parents wedding bands. They still sat in the small square container that her father had given her just before she left.

Having the Turian term of "mate" equate out to Quarian "marriage" had been what made Tali stall. Her memories of marriage weren't the best. Her parents hadn't seemed that happy with each other. Her father's career had over shadowed his home life shunting her mother into the background so that Tali could barely remember her and distanced herself from her father. That is what marriage meant to her and Tali really didn't want that to happen between Garrus and herself.

And so their relationship finally came to an impasse. Neither was going to yield first. Their pride would not allow it. Garrus refused to take Tali as his mate without getting married as well and Tali refused to consider the idea of marriage all together and just wanted to be mates.

To Tali, the idea of being bound together as mates just seemed more intimate than getting married. You could get divorced if you were married but you can't unmate your mate.

With the relationship unable to move forwards things cooled off some between Garrus and Tali. He kept away with Spectre missions and Tali kept busy doing odd jobs around the Citadel. Their relationship over the next 6 months dissolved from hot lovers to friends with benefits to just friends.

In hindsight, it was exactly what they needed but at the time Tali felt betrayed somehow. She had left everything for him and he had led her on only to seemingly drop her as a romantic interest. True they still maintained their friendship and that had grown a great deal now that they spent their time talking as opposed to being otherwise occupied.

However it did cause Tali to reexamine what Garrus had said to her. Maybe she had just been blinded by her youth and want for adventure. Maybe she had just used Garrus as a living embodiment of what she wanted; to be free of the Flotilla and her father's influence. Maybe she really was just rebelling and had used him because he had reciprocated her feelings at one time.

If that was the case Tali felt bad. Garrus had had to make a lot of adjustment to accommodate her in his life. His quarters had been changed extensively. A disinfect chamber in the entrance, additional closet space, a bigger bed, a billion pillows on the bed. Though the pillows were a human female custom. According to Liara, Shepard had said it was the females right and duty to arrange the sleeping area and multiple pillows was a staple in a married home.

On the other hand, Tali really believed she had left the Flotilla for the right reasons or rather reason; him. In her opinion things just got moving too fast and she had pushed him too far. So she would be patient and wait faithfully for him to come to his senses. After all, she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Or so she thought.

A/N: Okay I know it has been a long time but it really isn't my fault. Honestly. Work took up a couple weeks and then doing all the stuff I had to do to finalize the end of my service took up the rest. The only reason you guys are getting this pathetically short chapter is because I had such long layovers trying to get home. I promise that Garrus's next chapter will be longer. Thanks to those that review. And thanks to all of you that put this story down as a fave story of yours. I think I have more faves then reviews at this point actually.

Oh in case anyone is wondering. Yes they sort of broke up. (Please note that the author had run away to his super secret bomb shelter at this time.) It had to happen. Garrus will mull out the reasoning next chapter. That and have an actual conversation (GASP, dialogue!) in thenext chapter with our favorite Krogan. I think you guys will like what I do with them. Lastly, I nowly foresee a couple of chapters to come. I have a smashing ending. I just have to get Tali and Garrus ready for it. Now click the little review button…


	12. Chapter 12

Promotion Demotion

The problem with being a Spectre is that all everything a Spectre does goes into the sealed archives. It's accessible only to the Council and not even other Spectres can get into those files. That's not to say news of what each Spectre did recently doesn't get around. Some things, like the utter destruction of entire asteroid bases tend to get around rather quickly. It's rather hard to cover up a missing planetary body after all. But that's all gossip. Gossip doesn't make up for actual information. Useful information. Information that would have kept Garrus from accepting this assassination job in the first place.

It's not that he's against cracking skulls open from over a kilometer away. On these missions he goes solo as Wrex is more of the destroy everything in sight kind of guy. Sometimes tact is needed and Wrex just doesn't fit the bill. Also these missions let him think. Too much it seems.

Like about his stalled relationship with Tali. Which was really all his fault. He was being stubborn because she was being stubborn. And culturally ignorant. But mostly just plain stubborn. Turians can both get married and be mated. Being the hierarchical society that they are, Turian households can have enough internal politics to give any Salarian spy unit a headache. Especially if the head has multiple partners.

A Turian can be married multiple times as long as they can "equally" provide for each person they marry. In reality the order of marriage is important. Obviously the first wife has more say than the third wife but only if that first wife had children. However if the first wife's children were girls and the third wife had a son then the third wife become more important. All that can be trumped though if the second wife is picked as mate. Being mated is the end all way of attaching oneself to another Turian.

Generally speaking, most Turians just get married once and mate with their partner. Still, that Tali wanted to become his mate for quickly really did throw Garrus off. Granted he had come to terms with it and offered to make her his mate if they got married. The reason he wanted the marriage wasn't for the legality of it. Being mated was what Shepard called a "common law" marriage but that didn't bother Garrus. What bothered him was that Tali didn't want to get married at all. Not in the Quarian fashion nor Turian.

Why? He never asked. He simply made his offer known and had left things in her hands; he'd agree to mate with her if she agreed to marry him. That offer had been set over a year ago. Tali had been on the Citadel almost 18 months and they had known each other for four and a half years now. Maybe they just weren't meant to be. After all they were a cross species couple. Or had been. Things really had cooled off in the last year. They still lived together but hadn't shared the bed for anything other than sleeping in months.

Garrus took out his frustrations with Wrex's proven method of stress release; making things go boom. Sometimes though he wanted things to go splat and so that is how Garrus took up more assassination missions. Like the one he had been on just recently. The one he wouldn't have gone on if he had had access to Shepard's files say that she was trying to recruit the same bastard Garrus was trying to kill.

In the ensuing Spectre on Spectre firefight, the only one that got hurt(okay, killed. He had been "hurt" about 15 rounds ago) was the guy Shepard had been trying to recruit. Of course eventually, the Spectres stopped shooting at each other once they recognized each other and talked things out. Shepard was a bit put out; she had wanted the guy to be her sniper for her team. She was ready to take on the Reapers and was putting together a team. Feeling bad, Garrus offered to take the guy's place and act under Shepard's command. After all, it was her mission and she did sort of out rank him in so much as she was a Spectre longer.

That's how Garrus got back on Shepard's team and he was glad. Not because he knew he would be doing something to truly help the galaxy, not because most of the old Normandy crew was coming together but because with him there, there would be no need to send Tali on the ground team.

That's right, Tali had gotten herself recruited and Garrus wish he had just bitten her a second time. Then he could order her to stay home. Well, ask her to stay home. Plead. Beg perhaps. He wasn't completely stupid. Tali knew how to take care of herself and knew his anatomy well enough to know how to hurt him. Garrus just didn't like the idea of her being in firefights again. With any luck, things would be like last time and Tali would play a supporting role with Liara, who was once again along for the ride.

Wrex wasn't asked to come along. Garrus requested that it be that way. Wrex was completely pissed off at Garrus until Garrus managed to explain his line of thinking to the angry Krogan.

"Dammit Garr. Don't tell me you're taking another solo mission." Wrex growled.

Garrus wanted to slam his head into the bar. Wrex, and only Wrex called him "Garr" and got away with it. Why the Krogan couldn't say the last two letters of his name was beyond the Spectre.

"I'm not going on a solo mission. Shepard is getting a lot of the old team together and she asked me to come along."

"Really? I haven't heard anything from Shepard."

Garrus took a long drink of his Turian ale. How to break this to Wrex and still walk out of Chora's Den. And be able to sleep on Wrex's couch.

"I asked Shepard not to include you."

"Why Turian?"

"We've known each other a while now right?

"A few years. So? That doesn't answer my question Garrus."

"You trust me."

Wrex leered at Garrus.

"Okay, you respect me enough not to shot me. Right now. Anyway, I have no idea how long Shepard's insane op is going to take. And this mission is really going to tie up two Spectres."

"Get to the point Garrus."

"I want you to stay back so you can continue our work."

Wrex raised his eyebrow. "Our work?"

Garrus rested his head on the bar counter top. "Dammit Wrex. You know the Spectre business real well now and I want you to keep doing what we've been doing. Taking on the hardest, nastiest assignments the Council has to offer. Killing the scum of the galaxy."

"Why should I do any of that when you're not round? I don't even do any of that unless I specifically accompany you on one of your missions."

"Wrex, I owe Shepard a favor so I'm going with her to repay that debt. I've deputized you with Spectre powers for the duration of my absence. Just don't go overboard."

"Spectre powers?"

"Try not to do anything I wouldn't."

"Like blowing up an asteroid?" Wrex said with a large grin.

Garrus knew Wrex would keep up his work in his stead. Garrus just hoped Wrex really didn't go too overboard. Hopefully, Garrus had rubbed off enough to keep Wrex somewhat inside the rules, not to say that he didn't stretch them himself. At the very least, Garrus could go into Shepard's mission knowing things would be taken care of. He just had to deal with being stuck with Tali on the Normandy for a long time now.

A/N: I was going to make this a longer chapter but I think what I have in mind is best done from Tali's POV so Garrus's chapter has come to a close. Personally I can see Garrus and Tali both making it to ME2 as squad mates since they survived the last game. Wrex, Ashley, and Kaiden all can die so I think they make cameos at best. Just my thoughts. I think Liara is a given squad mate if that Asari from the trailers is her. Yeah for that.

I've got to say I have no idea how I used to do it. Before I could sleep in until noon. Now, sleeping in late is a task, a chore, something that requires actual work. I wake up at 6 and feel like I've over slept. It's madness. Just part of adjusting back to civilian life I guess.

Thank you to my reviewers. Right now for every fav this story has I have 2 people that were nice enough to make my ego bigger, I mean review.

BeckWreck: No sequel. Not planned anyway. In my experience if I make a sequel they tend to sputter and die. I do have a few ideas that could really twist this around but they wouldn't fit. I might do a few addon snap shots of could have beens. Hells, this was supposed to be a short two chapter thing to begin with.

Vshard: They say that emotions are universal so why can't emotions between two aliens have the same impact as human emotions? I'm drawing on East vs West (of the pond that is) for why I made up the mating thing. In the Western culture (US), which I think Tali fits into quite well, marriages come and go. Sad but true, being married isn't all that solid. While in the East (think Roman times) marriages were arranged and you were stuck with that person for life, like a mate. To solve that little issue of emotions it was common place to have mistresses, especially if you have standing in society. Arranged marriages still work out a lot better. They tend to make much more stable homes since divorce still isn't socially acceptable in most countries that still have arranged marriages.

Obsidian Thirteen: Sucks about the distance. I can understand. Used to (keep word) have a girlfriend. Then basic training came along and put a little distance and she jumped the first male she saw. Anyway, if I hadn't made it this far into the fic this would have ended without too much conflict. But you need to have fights in a relationship to keep it healthy. Nothing so massive that you break up but just enough to still confirm that you are separate people and you love the other person for being different from you. Now, what's that short story? I'm always looking for a good romance fic on here.


	13. Chapter 13

All good things must come to an end

Tali slowly came back to consciousness and wished she wasn't. Her entire body ached. She was sure she was purple and blue with bruises and cuts. Both sides of her neck were bleeding and she leaking all over him. If she was going to be honest with herself she hadn't enjoyed last night at all. Tali allowed herself a feeble smile. At least she would never have to endure this again. Hopefully. She had accomplished her task and Garrus with his Turian honor would honor it. Sure it was sneaky and underhanded but she was done waiting. He was a Spectre and they didn't have the best job life expectancy.

It all went back to last night. They had finally made it back to Citadel Space having completed Shepard's year long mission. That had been a week ago. Last night had been the party. Last night she had poured drink after drink down Garrus's throat. A drunk Garrus meant a Garrus with diminished resolve. Combined that with a Tali all over him made Garrus quite willing to accommodate any and all of Tali's suggestions.

Tali got a renewed claiming mark, and the mating mark she had been yearning for. She also got reminded of what Garrus could be like when he didn't hold back. Their first time together had been rough and somewhat Turian. This time Garrus was too drunk to keep in mind that Tali wasn't Turian and therefore not as hardy as a regular Turian female. Tali was sure feeling it this morning.

Underneath her Tali felt Garrus stir a little. Tali just nestled her head against his chest and sighed. She might as well try to get what comfort she could before Garrus woke up completely and took her to see Dr. Michelle.

"Morning."

"I marked you last night." It wasn't a question, but rather a statement.

"Are you mad?"

Garrus started to run his talons through Tali's white hair. It was much longer than he remembered. Then again, it had been almost 15 months since they had last done this. Three months from their "break" and a year for Shepard's road trip. Tali's hair was now all the way down to the middle of her back. She had started growing her hair when she came back to the Citadel. Garrus liked to stroke her hair. It soothed him just as much as it soothed her.

"Just wish you hadn't gotten me quite so drunk last night." Garrus paused. "We'll have to get Dr. Michelle take a look at that bite mark."

"She'll have to look at more than just that."

Garrus's hand froze. "Why? What did I do to you last night?"

****

Garrus had gently as he could moved Tali off of him for bolting out of bed and throwing on some pants. Then he bundle Tali up in the sheets and ran all the way to Dr. Michelle's clinic. After depositing Tali in the doctor's care, Garrus had gone back to their place to get one of Tali's biosuits and get properly dressed. Then the waiting began. That was the worst part.

Garrus's mind gnawed at him. Just what had he done to Tali that was taking Dr. Michelle so long? He wasn't sure. Last night was mostly a haze. The only things he was sure of was that he marked Tali and that he was never going to drink again.

He wasn't mad at her. They were both stubborn. That's all really. And finally Garrus met someone that was willing to be more stubborn than him. And smart. Beautiful. Skilled. He wasn't going to admit it but her stubbornness had been a good thing for their relationship. She was young, early 20s, and he was her first crush, love, kiss, relationship. He was nearing 30. She was his first real serious relationship. He certainly never had anyone live with him before.

The "break" had been good for them. It really helped solidify their relationship without it being hazed over with lots of hormones and sex. And the mission had been a test for them. Tali had gotten to see what Spectre Vakarian was like. Cold, calculating, vicious, remorseless. With work Garrus, the mission always came first, regardless of the costs. That's how Garrus could sleep at night knowing he did things like destroy an entire asteroid base with thousands of people on it.

His role on the mission had been to put his skill as a sniper to work and provide overwatch. In other words he became a shadow to Shepard's squad and tried to keep nasty surprises out of the squad's way. If Shepard sparked off a fight as she was wont to do, Garrus gave fire support from afar, picking off anyone foolish enough to show their head. The work side of Garrus had been a few short steps away from being the next Saren. Tali had kept him from going off into that deep end just like Liara was Shepard's buoy.

That's why he loved her. She knew every part of him and still loved him back. Hell, she knew him well enough to get him to mark her and love her for making him do that.

Two hours after Garrus had brought Tali to Dr. Michelle, the doctor came out to talk to him and she did not look happy at all.

"I've just spent the last half hour with Tali trying to convince me not to file a domestic violence charge against you."

"That bad?" Garrus asked.

"That bad? Garrus, you beat her, bruised her, cut her, bit her." Dr. Michelle said evenly.

Garrus winced. "I didn't realize I had hurt her so badly. I was drunk"

"So she says. Drunkenness is no excuse, Spectre."

Garrus growled low. "It is when she is the one that got me drunk in the first place. She took away my ability to remember that she's not Turian. 'Soft bodies' can't handle Turian mating. They end up like she did. She knows enough about Turian customs to know what she was getting into." Garrus sighed.

"That's what she told me and that's the only reason I haven't filed that charge Garrus. Not that it would do any good since you're a Spectre and all."

"Can I take her home?"

"Not if you're going to bring her back to me like this again."

"I won't. I promise."

"Not a promise, Garrus. On your honor."

"Fine then. On my honor."

"Good. I've patch her up though she will be sore for a few days. I wouldn't recommend anything strenuous for a week or so. Oh and you'll have to carry her home. I gave her a mild sedative so she's dozed off."

"Thank you doctor."

****

They never talked about it. It just became a matter of fact that they were mates and they were both happy about it. Garrus didn't press getting married. Tali had never wanted to get married and Garrus, quite frankly, just gave up. He was smart enough to be content with the bond they had to each other. Never mind that it was a common law marriage, which being mates made them under Citadel law.

Sure it made life a little entertaining for filling out forms but his Spectre status helped smooth things over. Though often times he didn't have to step in. More often than not it was him restraining his mate from hurting the poor employee that had been snide enough to try to treat Tali like a second class citizen. Still every time such a situation came up Garrus was reminded why he loved Tali. She knew what she wanted out of life and wasn't afraid to go after it. She really had come a long way from the girl he had met on the Normandy.

****

Tali was happy with her life. She had a loving mate in Garrus and good friends. Dr. Michelle kept tabs on Tali and Wrex always had interesting, different versions of the stories that Garrus would tell her. Liara and Jane were the one couple Garrus and Tali were friends with. Garrus and Jane of course had their work to keep them in common and Liara and Tali were the Spectre's "wives."

Back on the Normandy Tali had felt a kinship with Liara because they were the aliens there. Liara had been crippling shy and Tali had tried too hard to prove herself to the rest of the crew. Now they had a bond based on common experience. They both had many lonely nights while their other half was away, which was often. And Tali was almost never jealous of Liara. Until Liara and Jane decided to have a kid together.

Tali was happy for them of course but it only served as a reminder of she could never give to Garrus, a child to make their family grow. Family was a strong part of Quarian culture as it was in Turian culture. After months of mulling it over to herself Tali finally came up with a solution she could live if. She just didn't know how Garrus would react since the never talked about it.

So Tali set it all up carefully. She cooked his favorite meal and did everything he liked to do in bed. When he was all buttered up, she pounced.

"What do you think about having children?"

Garrus chuckled a little. "I knew something was up. You hate cooking and only cook when you have something up your sleeve. And you know we can't have kids."

"I know we can't have them biologically. What if we adopted?" Tali asked. Adoption existed in Quarian society but it was almost nonexistent. Family was expected to take in orphans so adoption of people who weren't related was extremely rare. Tali had done some research though and found that adoption was fairly common place in Turian culture. Even if ones parents weren't dead. A Turian that showed exceptional ability could be adopted by a family that had higher standing or could offer a better education in a certain field. Turians of any age could be adopted formally into family making for very unusual family trees.

"Does this have something to do with Liara being pregnant?" Garrus asked. He wasn't blind to his mates wants but the one time they had discussed having a family had ended with her in tears when it was confirmed that they just weren't genetically compatible enough to have offspring.

"Partly. Our age is another thing. We're getting older and it will only get harder the older we get. If we adopt I'd want to adopt a baby not a teenager."

"If we adopt?"

"You haven't said if you want a family."

"I have a family."

"You know what I mean. Kids."

"Of course I want children. I want anything you want Tali."

"I'm serious Garrus."

"So am I Tali. If you want to make the family bigger then let's do it."

****

Garrus had been barred by his mate from interfering with the adoption process. Tali was going to do this through the usual slow channels and refused any help from Garrus. She was Quarian trying to adopt a Turian baby. Not the easiest thing to accomplish. And Garrus let Tali do this on her own for a while. She really took to preparing for this baby. She rearranged the apartment, did up a baby room, filled out all the paperwork, met with the social workers and put up with all of the crap that came her way just because she was a Quarian.

Garrus stayed true to his mate. He didn't use his Spectre status to get his hands on a Turian baby. In fact how this kid got adopted would make for one hell of a story. Garrus wasn't sure if he'd ever tell the kid though and he swore Wrex to secrecy. In this case just leaving it at you were adopted might be better. No kid would want to know they were spared from death when they were only months old all because daddy and Uncle Wrex happened to shoot the guy who had shot their mother.

It was a distress call from a Turian transport that had been ambushed by several Batarian raiders. Garrus and Wrex had fought their way through half the transport trying to drive off the Batarians. It was hard going since they were also trying not to shoot the civilians who were panicking. When the initial surprise wore off Garrus and Wrex had to make a fighting retreat as they were outnumbered rather badly. Garrus had made the decision that they couldn't save any more people than they already had.

It was then that Garrus heard a shot and the thud of a body dropping. He turned and killed the raider that had just killed someone. Garrus would have not even bother to remember killing this particular Batarian except for what he heard a second later; the cry of a baby Turian coming from where Garrus had just shot the Batarian.

Garrus and Wrex fought their way to where the crying was coming from. They only stayed long enough for Garrus to scoop up the screaming bundle that was still in arms of their dead mother. They retreated back to their own ship and undocked from the transport and resumed their course for home.

****

When Garrus showed up home with a crying baby in his arms Tali didn't ask questions or get mad. How could she? His face showed that he was at a loss of what to do and after Garrus told Tali how he came into possession of the child that occupied the baby room, Tali came up with a simple solution. They would adopt that baby and Garrus was going to make sure it happened. But that could wait until morning. Tonight, Tali was going to take care of her mate and her baby.

A/N: Done. Finished. No more! That's write I'm done with this and it ended where I think it should. Tali and Garrus get together and start up their family. I've left the gender of the kid up to your thoughts though I did have an idea that would lead to a really odd chapter. I might add it as a bonus. I'll mull it over. Maybe I'll hold it hostage. I write a bonus chapter if I actually get a review. Last chapter not one review and yet there is something like nearly 20 people that placed this on alert. Still, I think Tali and Garrus not being compatible is very realistic. Sure they have the same genetic base but that doesn't mean anything. A lot of things on Earth had the same genetic base but that doesn't mean they had get together and have kids.

Anyone else get Dragon Age: Origins just to get the Blood Dragon Armor for Mass Effect 2?


	14. Chapter 14

Why Wrex, Wrex?

Garrus and Wrex were standing side by side in the slow moving elevator each deep in their own thoughts. They had known each other for over 25 years now and still the evil contraptions moved at speed rivaling glaciers. Still, they were quiet, tense. They were on a mission of sorts. They were going to venture into the bowels of debauchery for one night. After all it was tradition to have a bachelor party. Maybe not a Krogan or Turian tradition but that never stopped either of them before. What made this awkward were the groom and his best man. Only because the best man was also the father of the bride.

It all started almost 20 years ago. Wrex and Garrus had been doing what they did; blowing things up and generally leaving a large swath of destruction in their wake. In the name of galactic peace of course. Out of the goodness of their hearts, or Wrex just wanted to shoot more things, they had answered a Turian transport distress call. It had been a lost cause but they got to kill a bunch of Batarians which is always good for the galaxy. They also came away with an unexpected passenger, a baby Turian girl.

There had been no real doubt about what to do with the baby. Tali had been trying, unsuccessfully for months to adopt a baby and Garrus had been barred from helping. Wrex was single, very much a bachelor, and in no way prepared to take care of a baby. So Garrus took the little girl home and the rest was history.

Tali refused to give up the baby and wasn't above using her mate's Spectre status. When the Citadel Social Services tried to go around that, Tali very politely told the social workers to go fuck themselves. When that didn't work Tali very calmly introduced them to an old friend of hers, her trusty shotgun.

Garrus did write a letter of apology and did send some flowers to the nice lady's hospital room but that didn't deter the CSS much. Until Garrus pointed out that this whole ordeal had lasted almost 6 weeks in which time Tali had taken excellent care of the baby. When that looked like it might fail Garrus very calmly explained to the CSS head that no one was going to take his daughter away from his mate or himself. Anyone that did might have to deal with a rather upset Spectre, his mate, another Spectre friend (Jane), a powerful Biotic (Liara, who was pregnant and getting very maternal toward the baby), and a dotting Krogan. That seemed to put an end to the dispute and little Adela Tali Vakarian was officially adopted by Garrus and Tali.

That's right, this tiny baby girl had big old Wrex wrapped around her tiny fingers. He would fight with Liara over the chance to hold Adela whenever Tali gave up her baby for a few minutes. How knew that Wrex had a soft spot for kids? Granted he did spend 22 hours holding and feeding the kid on the way back to the Citadel so some bond must have formed.

At first no one really thought much of it. Wrex was also nice when Jane and Liara's daughter Sheila was born and he made a handy baby sitter for Liara and Tali when he wasn't on mission with Garrus. He was Uncle Wrex and everyone thought it was cute. Even when Adela was three and announced that she was going to grow up and marry Uncle Wrex. Everyone just laughed and shrugged it off as toddler nonsense.

After all, Wrex was a round a lot and Adela really took a liking to him, crawling all over him and dominating his attention when he came to visit. It was taken as status quo even as a she got older. The one attempt to stop Adela from seeing Wrex quite so much had ended with Adela running away that night. The next morning Tali had been an absolute mess and in hysterics until Wrex called to say that Adela had run away to his place. Tali berated the Krogan as to why he hadn't called earlier to which Wrex sheepishly replied that he had left a message and didn't want to bother them too much as it was a Friday night. How Wrex knew what the Garrus and Tali were usually up to on Friday nights, Garrus never asked. Truthfully he didn't want to know.

"Just bring her over please. Tali and I would both appreciate it."

"What? Why do you think you can never get in touch with the Shepards on Saturdays until about 10 or so?"

"Wrex please. Just bring Adela home."

The whole episode was settled and Wrex became a standard fixture in the Vakarian's lives. He was just as anxious as Tali when it came time to send Adela to school. Garrus went along that first day as well but more for his daughter's sake then his own nervous feelings. It's never easy handing off the most precious thing in your universe to a total stranger, even if it is only for a few hours. Still Garrus was there to hopefully keep Tali and Wrex from fussing too much and giving bad advice to Adela. Tali told her daughter to be nice and polite to people and Wrex told her to kick anyone that wasn't being nice to her. Sure enough later that day Tali got a call from the school saying that Adela had viciously attacked another child.

'Viciously attacked' turned out to be kicking a human boy in the groin and then in the stomach while he lay on the ground. All because he was being rude to Shiela, who unfortunately took after her mother and was horribly shy. Adela had come to her 'cousin's' rescue and when the teacher asked her why she had beat up the boy Adela said she was doing what her Uncle Wrex had told her to do "beat some manners into people."

After that, the bullies of the class learned quickly to not pick on the quiet Asari girl or any of Adela's friends. Being the smart kid she was, Adela would normally let things slide in class until after the bell rang and everyone ran out to leave for the day. On days that a bully had done something, that bully normally would stumble and fall in the rush for the door and be trampled by his school mates.

And that's how it went as Adela got older. She was very much no one sense thanks to her very strong willed mother and her Spectre father. And Uncle Wrex told her not to let people try to bull her and that it didn't hurt to make a display of force early in the year. What Uncle Wrex said was just as good as her parents so Adela took it to heart.

Every year, at the beginning of the school year Adela would wait for some poor sap to go after Sheila. It was almost a game really. Adela would leave poor Sheila alone to be bait and sooner or later some moron would pick on her. Adela would make her grand entrance and often spend the first day of school arguing very level headedly with the councilor about why she did what she did.

"Do you know why I'm not giving you the same speech I always give you Ms. Vakarian?"

Adela cocked her head to the side, a gesture of curiosity, not used by Turians but something she had kicked up from her mother. "Why Ms. Mckay?"

"Because next you won't be attending this school and I know you won't be a problem for the rest of the year. I still don't understand why you do this." The Human councilor said. Turians had a much shorter school life compared to Humans or Asari. Primary school was only 7 years long starting when they were four until they were 11. Then it was off to secondary school which lasted until they were 15. When they were 16 it was off to the military for at least a year. Then bam, they were adults and could do as they please. Garrus and Tali had decided to let Adela go to a mixed species school partly for the exposure and partly to make Sheila and Adela happy. They home schooled her to make sure that she kept up with the Turian standards.

"Because Uncle Wrex said a display of power early in the year works. And it does. The past 6 years I've done it and no one picks on my cousin or anyone else so everyone benefits. All the bullies in my class as too afraid of me to do anything."

"Doesn't that make you a bully?"

"I thought you weren't going to give me the speech Ms. McKay?"

"I wasn't planning on it but looks like we're headed down that road aren't we?"

"Yes we are Ms. McKay. I suppose in a why it makes me a bully but I see it like I'm a Spectre. By doing a little evil I generate a more good. Daddy does it all the time. You aren't supposed to kill people in general but if you kill off the bad ones then the good ones are better off."

Ms. Mckay just closed her eyes and silently groaned. Every year it was the same. Granted she was having a very adult conversation with a 10 year old at the moment. Only the 10 year old was a Turian of a mix background. And her father was a Spectre. Ms. McKay could only imagine the bed time stories Adela got.

"But why must you do it every year?"

"They need reminding. Remember what happened last year? Bobby Toby and his friends thought they could beat me up if they worked together."

"You hospitalized Bobby Toby and broke all their left hands."

"At least I didn't break their right hands so they couldn't do their school work."

Adela liked remembering that day. Wrex had been so proud. Her parents had been understanding. After all, they had thrown the first punch. Not that it did them a lot of good.

Knowing that Tali would one day have to send her daughter off to basic training Tali had insisted that Garrus give their daughter ahead start. Tali even recruited Wrex who as all too happy to help out. Garrus just laughed his head off and asked Tali if she thought she was the first mother to think of this. So from the age of 3 on Adela got the best training she could. Between Wrex and daddy, Adela knew more ways to kill people by the time she was 6 then most career soldiers of any species. Between Tali and Garrus she also knew just as much there was to know about any tech. If she had been Biotic Adela was sure she would have gotten lessons from Wrex and Aunties Liara and Jane.

The real turning point in everyone's lives came when Adela was 12. It was time for the boy and sex talk which Tali graciously left for Garrus to do feigning her lack of knowledge on the subject. Garrus had done it was open minded as he could. Turian were physically mature at 10 and he himself had spent a more than a few nights sneaking out of bed to hook up with the crush of the month when he was in secondary school. To Turians, sex was just sex and it didn't carry any particular emotional attachment until a Turian was 20 or so. At least in a regular Turian colony. The Citadel was a melting pot of different species, cultures and beliefs and Garrus wasn't sure just how all of it had affect his Adela. For him, he really was becoming more Quarian on the issue, wishing she would wait until she was older. Claimed would be nice or better yet mated but Tali hadn't waited that long. Granted Garrus had claimed her that same night.

Garrus had been amazingly clinical in his discussion sparing no deal with Adela who spent the entire talk with a permanent look of horror etched on her face. Not an easy thing for the Turian face to portray either.

"Do you have any questions?"

"YES! Why are you telling me these horrible things!"

"Your mother told me to." Garrus opted for the easy out.

"You've scared me for life dad! At least before I could just pretend you and mom wrestled on Friday nights! Now I know what you're doing. EWWWW!"

"Well, it's not the same with a soft body like your mother"

"Dad, I'm begging you. STOP. Please."

"Okay honey."

Garrus left his daughter's room and found his mate in the kitchen making supper.

"How did it go dear?" Tali asked.

"Mission accomplished. I think I've managed to scar her enough to put off sex until she's our age." Garrus said giving his mate a kiss on the cheek.

The sex talk didn't quite have the desired effect. It really just grossed Adela out thinking of what her parents did and it got her curious about how Krogans went about things. One day when Wrex had taken Adela to the park Adela blindside him by asking about how Krogans had sex. Wrex tried to side step by saying she should be having that discussion with her parent but Adela countered by telling Wrex she already had a conversation with her parents about it. Left with no other out and having been hopelessly accommodating of Adela since day one, Wrex answered in as much detail as she squeezed out of him. Which wasn't much. Krogans weren't particularly mushy and sex was sex. If Adela was disappointed she never showed it. The only real change was that she took to staying by his side or holding his hand more then was considered usual at that point.

Unbeknownst to the adults was that Adela had a plan and she was going to go through with it. Even if it would take a few years. And she make the next step in her plan on the one day no one could say no to her; her birthday. Okay it was her adoption day but since no one knew when she was born it was as good a day as any to have a party.

Of course there were school friends, Sheila was there as were her parents and of course Wrex. The one year he had missed her birthday Adela had locked herself in her room and refused to celebrate her birthday until Wrex was there to celebrate it with her. So that year she was 8 for an extra 3 months.

On her 13th birthday, after all the guests had gone home and Wrex made to leave Adela walked him to the door. There she simply declared she was going to get her real birthday present right then. Unceremoniously Adela placed her hands on either side of Wrex's big head, adjusted him where she wanted him and kissed him full on the lips in front of the entire extended family. And it wasn't an innocent peck either. The kiss lasted until Adela came up for air because everyone in the room was shocked to the point of being physically frozen. That all ended when Tali promptly fell to the floor having fainted.

That was just as well because when Tali came to she was very willing to hasten the extinction of the Krogan species even though Adela reminded her mother that she had been the one to initiate the kiss.

"Don't remind me. That's it. You're ground. You're not seeing Wrex again." Tali said with an air of finality.

"You can't stop me from seeing Wrex."

"Oh yes I can young lady. I'll lock you in your room if I have to."

"Tali maybe we should try to be a little more…understanding."

"Garrus." Tali said in a tone that the Spectre knew he was in trouble and probably sleeping on the couch tonight. If not a while.

"Well honey, the last time we tried that it only made things worse. Remember when Adela ran away?" That was Garrus' trump card. Tali had always felt so guilty that Adela had runaway because of a decision she had made.

"Yes."

"We don't want to repeat that so let's just not do anything rash." Later Garrus spoke with to Tali in bed, having saved himself from the varren house, and told Tali it was probably just a teen crush. At least they knew Wrex wouldn't take advantage of Adela and most likely didn't have those kinds of feelings towards Adela. So as long as Adela crushed on Wrex, Tali didn't have to worry about some boy trying to get into Adela's pants.

Unless of course Adela was the one forcing their hand into her pants. In this case Wrex. The scene was the secondary school senior dance. Adela was 15 and graduating. Two years of being openly affectionate towards Wrex had worked as planned, the Krogan secretly came to reciprocate how the young Turian felt. And it trouble him greatly. He was 1458 at this point. Even if Adela was an Asari, Wrex was old enough to be her grandmother's father. On top of that this was Garrus's daughter and Garrus was his only real friend. What bothered him the most was Garrus seemed okay with it. Or like he was waiting for it to pass. Tali just wanted to kill him. Wrex could deal with Tali but Garrus was something else.

Worse yet Wrex was drinking himself stupid that night because some random Turian boy was taking Adela to the dance. The senior dance, or any dance at any Turian secondary school was guaranteed two things; dancing and lots of hormone driven sex. Thankfully Adela hadn't attended any of her other year end dances but had been very insistent on this one.

Wrex was therefore really surprised when Adela let herself into his place and proceeded to strip as she walked towards him. Utterly flabbergasted Wrex didn't say anything when she planted a big wet kiss on him and started tugging at his clothes.

"I needed a cover so I could do this. The dance was perfect." Was the only words exchanged between them that night.

When Adela returned home the next morning sporting a fresh looking claiming mark Tali took it with a grain of salt. As Garrus pointed out, "At least she's over Wrex."

Adela never said who claimed her and let her parents minds think what they will. She acted as she always did towards Wrex when they were together in public, which was fairly affectionate at this point but didn't hint that they had gone to that last step together. Wrex for his part acted like nothing had changed. Truth be told he was mostly still trying to wrestle with himself why he hadn't stopped her that night nor any of the other nights she managed to sneak out to his place. He contemplated telling Garrus and he almost did many times. He even tried to get Adela to tell her parents for him. Finally an agreement was reached. The next time Garrus and Wrex went on mission he would tell Garrus and Adela would tell Tali.

"Garrus?"

"Yeah!?" Garrus yelled back to Wrex over the gun fire.

"I think I might have slept with someone I shouldn't have."

"What?! Who?"

"You're going to hate me for it."

"Tali?" You son of a bitch. If you weren't over there I'd shoot you."

"What, no! Adela."

"Oh, ok."

And that was the conversation. Wrex asked why Garrus was being so cool about it all and Garrus pointed out that Adela always got what she wanted and she could have done a lot worse. Only Wrex shouldn't expect Tali to be as open minded about it all.

Tali took it fairly well. At lunch with Liara and Sheila, Adela turned to her mother and calmed said, "Mom, I've been sleeping with Wrex since the senior dance last month." Adela had been quite tactical in her strike. Her mother wasn't going to make a public scene and Liara and Sheila really didn't have a problem with Wrex or interspecies relationships at all. It came with being Asari and their own family.

Tali for her part was mostly calm. "But you have a Turian claim mark."

"To keep all the Turian boys away. Wrex gave it to me."

"Why Adela?"

"Because I love him and he loves me."

"But he's a Kro"

"A Krogan? Mom, you're a Quarian shacked up with a Turian. Auntie Liara is an Asari married to a Human."

"Honey, like you said Liara is an Asari."

"So you're saying other species can't love each other if one of them isn't an Asari? What about you and dad? Are you saying you don't love him?"

"Does your father know?"

"Wrex said he'd talk to dad sometime during this trip."

"Eat your soup before it gets too cold honey."

Tali had been hoping for some kind of support out of Garrus but he only reminded her of how rebellious their own youths were in the face of their love for each other. As a result neither of them had any ties to their families anymore so if they act calmly, rationally, they could still have Adela in their lives down the road.

With their relationship in the open it was an open and shut case really. Wrex did his best to be somewhat respectful while Garrus and Tali were around but Adela never made things easy. The one that was most surprised was Jane who couldn't believe how Garrus and Tali were adjusting to this.

"Wrex."

"Yup."

"As in our Wrex."

"Yes."

"Urdnot Wrex the Krogan battlemaster and former bounty hunter."

"With your daughter."

"That's what they've told us."

"I need to lie down."

At Adela behest, she went off to do her year of mandatory military service with a claiming mark and a mating mark. Tali, already in tears at the spacedock, broke out into a fresh wave when Adela proudly showed off what Wrex had given her last night.

"Oh boy. I can't believe I'm going to say this but honey, when you get to your training unit I want you to do what you used to do in school." Garrus said upon seeing the mating mark.

"Kick one of the boys in the alls?"

"Better yet, attack one of your drill sergeants. And really show off that mark. I mean flaunt it."

"No problem but why daddy?"

"Well at night time no one really keeps an eye on the barracks and if you thought the school dances here had a seedy reputation they might as well be a baby shower by comparison. If you take out one of your instructors it will show everyone not to mess with you since you can obviously take care of yourself. I'll be waiting for the call for I can clear things up."

With that Garrus and Tali started back to their place leaving Adela and Wrex to have a very public goodbye that drew many on lookers.

"Any of you Turian whelps even think about making a move on my _mate_ remember that I'll come find you." Wrex barked out at the crowd.

"That's only if I let you live." Adela laughed.

Thanks to all the advanced training Adela had gotten from her parents and Wrex, basic was a breeze. No one touched her at all. Literally. Her combative partners would all back down and she one that cycles championship by just being there. No one wanted to take on the person who had beat up a drill sergeant so badly he cried. That and she hadn't been punished. When Garrus got the call her was expecting he just wanted to make sure the same old rule was in effect. Anyone with the stones to actually fight and win against a DS had the easiest training ever. It was the ones that fought and lost that suffered. The drills of ages ago had decided to reward anyone who came prepared. Those that weren't got to suffer like the rest of them.

As soon as her year was up Adela was back on the Citadel and moved in with Wrex. A few years later Adela simply picked out a date and told Wrex they would be getting married on that day. Having been whipped long ago Wrex just nodded and went back to reading his book.

So here Wrex was. In the universe's slowest form of transportation with Garrus. Going to Chora's Den simply because this would probably be the last time they would have a reason to go as customers and be able to get away with it.

"You know Wrex, I'm glad you and Adela decided to get married."

"You know she's the one that decided this."

"I know. Tali thinks this will ruin both of you. She's still trying to talk Adela out of marrying you."

"You could never sell marriage to Tali could you?"

"No. Something about how it made her parents unhappy."

"We've been living together for a couple of years now. I really don't see how signing a piece of paper will make much of a difference. We're both happy."

"And I'm happy for you. Now, if I recall correctly, this time it's your turn to pay."

"Aww come on Garrus. The last time we came here was well over two decades ago."

"You know the rules. I won the last round so you pay."

"Fine. Dad."

"Don't you ever all me that again. It's hard enough wrapping my head around the fact that you will be my son-in-law."

"Whatever you want Pops."

"Fine fine, we'll split the bill."

"Sounds like a good idea Garrus."

A/N: The bonus chapter. I had this nutty idea and thought, why not? As for Garrus's and Tali parenting, particularly Garrus, I drew from my own experience with my own dad. He's pretty much of the mind that if it makes you happy, he's fine with it. Any mistakes and or consequences are yours to deal with. I was going to try to do something with this in the main body but not bad so a stand alone.

I made up a lot about the Turian culture based loosely on Rome. Adela means "noble" by the way in latin. Also the fact that I have her hold out until she's an old maid of 15 is a statement too. I love history because up until the 1900, a bride that young was still common. That's only 4 generations ago. Your great grandparents. Not that long ago really. It's only been in the last hundred years or so that kids are thoughts to be incapable of emotion or their own thinking. Everything is just something they don't understand because they are too young or not old enough. Personally I blame liberals that are trying to make the world into a horrible place. I would also like to blame conservatives for trying to make the world into a horrible place. Both are just trying to force their views of how the world should be or used to be and trying to get there but really, they just fuck it up for all of us.

Love you all for reviewing.


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